The Congregation

Composers Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway assembled the British mixed choir and its orchestra as a temporary studio ensemble for a single recording. Veteran session singer Brian Keith, previously a member of Plastic Penny, took the lead vocal role and proved perfectly suited to ‘Softly Whispering I Love You’. Built around an instantly memorable melody, the track climbed to number 4 on the UK chart and became a seasonal success at Christmas 1972. The unwieldy scale of Congregation prevented any live appearances, so the project ended once television promotion for the single concluded; nevertheless, the song later gained fresh chart life through Paul Young’s 1989 cover.