Through the darkness of the ages

Through the darkness of the ages. Hilary Jean Jolly* (1945- ). This was the winning text in the St Paul’s Cathedral Millennium Hymn Competition, announced well in advance to celebrate the dawning of the year 2000. In spite, or because, of unusually strict conditions such as a specified metre and the separation of words entries from new tunes, more than 750 items were submitted from many countries. These were judged anonymously by a broad-based panel chaired by Canon Michael Saward*, and the leading entries announced at a cathedral press conference in April 1999. The winning text and tune were sung by the choir, recorded and broadcast that same day. The top six were published with the...