A BARNSBURY church, a sacred music expert and the composer of BBC Radio 4’s shipping forecast theme are stumped by a musical mystery that only Islington residents may be able to solve.

St Andrew’s Church in Thornhill Square is appealing for choristers who sang there in the 1970s to dredge their memories for a hymn that has since been lost.

St Andrew’s was recently contacted “out of the blue” by a sacred music expert, who said he had found a recording of a “really classy piece of church music that should be up there with the greats”, church warden Professor Lis Howell told the Tribune this week.

It was a Te Deum (hymn of praise), dedicated to St Andrew’s Church and composed by Ronald Binge – best known for Sailing By, the distinctive accompaniment to the shipping forecast.

“But his greatest work has disappeared,” said Ms Howell, adding: “The music definitely was written for St Andrew’s but no one anywhere can find a score or any information about who commissioned the music or why.

“There must be dozens of people still alive – maybe just in their sixties or early seventies – who sang in church choirs in Islington in 1970 as kids, and might remember singing this piece.”

There are plans to perform the Te Deum at a major choral festival next year, but there is “no sheet music to be found”, Ms Howell said.

“It could be that our church inspired a great piece of 20th-century music. Surely someone in Islington must remember.”

Thank you for the music, Mr Binge, but where is it now?

A free concert with food and drink at St Andrew’s Church on September 20 will feature some of Ronald Binge’s compositions, although the Te Deum will not be performed until its score can be tracked down.