Remembering Sir David Willcocks on his birthday, directing two favorite Christmas carols arranged by Vaughan Williams.
“Yorkshire Wassail Song”
“Wassail Song”
Of course, Willcocks also conducted my favorite recording of RVW’s “Hodie,” which I got to enjoy this year on Christmas Day. Here it is again, a few days late.
Willcocks died in 2015, at the age of 95.
Oh, where do the years go? Today is the 75th birthday of John Rutter.
Rutter, of course, is one of England’s most successful choral composers and conductors. It’s impossible to get through the Christmas season without hearing oodles of his work. The bigger pieces can be a little hit and miss (the “Gloria” gets a little too close to Walton at times, and “big” is not really Rutter’s forte), but when he hits, as in the lovely “Requiem,” he is well-nigh irresistible – at least for someone with a cotton candy soul like myself.
Perhaps his music is not your cup of tea, but the choir he built, the Cambridge Singers (founded in 1981), sounds like nobody else. For better or worse, like Ormandy’s Philadelphians, they bring their distinctive sound to everything they touch. The soft glow inspires contentment.
As a young man, Rutter collaborated with the legendary Sir David Willcocks on four volumes of the extraordinarily successful “Carols for Choirs” anthology series, now the most widely used source of carols in the British Anglican tradition, and very popular among choral societies. Willcocks went so far as to describe Rutter as the most gifted composer of his generation. Certainly, his gift for melody has proven inexhaustible.
Happy birthday, John Rutter, and many happy returns.
Rutter’s “Requiem” (1985), the perfect music for autumn, with the Cambridge Singers. Accept no substitutes.
“Candlelight Carol” (1984):
The composer offering insights into his “Requiem,” in 11 segments:
Today would have been the 100th birthday of Sir David Willcocks.
Willcocks, one of Britain’s premiere choral directors, died in 2015 at the age of 95. He is especially identified with his tenure as director of music at King’s College, Cambridge, where he served from 1957 to 1974. He was also director of the Royal College of Music.
Willcocks conducted the Choir of King’s College on its annual Christmas Eve broadcasts of Nine Lessons and Carols and made countless records. His recording of Allegri’s “Miserere” is a notable landmark. He was also renowned for his performances of Bach masterworks. His interpretation of Fauré’s Requiem is regarded by some as definitive.
In 1981, he presided over the music at the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana. The event was observed by a global television audience of 750 million. Earlier, in 1968, he achieved notoriety when he led the London Bach Choir on the Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”
Join me this afternoon as we sample the artistry of Sir David Willcocks. Of course, this guarantees music by Ralph Vaughan Williams (if not the Stones). We’ll also remember composers Josef Bohuslav Foerster and Dmitri Kabalevsky on the anniversary of their births.
It turns out you really can get what you want. Lift up your voices, from 4 to 7 p.m. EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
Sir David Willcocks did so much, so well, and for so long, it’s hard to believe he’s gone. Particularly renowned for his work with the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, which he led from 1957 to 1974, he and the choir received world-wide exposure through their albums and the annual Christmas Eve broadcast of “Nine Lessons and Carols.”
Willcocks set down notable recordings of Thomas Tallis’ “Spem in Alium,” Gregorio Allegri’s “Miserere,” choral masterworks of Johann Sebastian Bach, and what many regard as the definitive interpretation of the Fauré Requiem.
His work on “Carols for Choirs,” a series of anthologies he co-edited with Reginald Jacques and John Rutter, yielded the most widely used source of carols in the British Anglican tradition, very popular among choral societies. Many of the pieces had been written, or arranged, for the annual Service of “Nine Lessons and Carols.”
In addition to his considerable accomplishments in the classical realm, Willcocks directed his London Bach Choir in the Rolling Stones song, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”
This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” we remember arguably the most esteemed British choral director of his generation, who died on September 17 at the age of 95, with performances of music composed by a couple of his countrymen.
It may seem like an awfully long stretch, to reach from Mick Jagger to the New Testament, but in the writing of “Sancta Civitas” (“The Holy City”), Ralph Vaughan Williams turned to the Book of Revelation (so perhaps it’s not so far off, after all). The oratorio, which spans just a little over 30 minutes, received its first performance in 1926. Late in life, Vaughan Williams claimed it was his favorite among his choral works. We’ll hear a classic recording with tenor Ian Partridge and baritone John Shirley-Quirk.
In the 1970s, Willcocks became director of the Royal College of Music. We’ll sample some of his work with the chamber choir there, with performances of two pieces by Gustav Holst: “Hymn to Dionysus,” composed in 1913, with its presentiments of “Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity” from “The Planets,” and a selection from “Choral Hymns from the ‘Rig Veda,’” written between 1908 and 1912, one of numerous works to grow out of the composer’s fascination with Sanskrit literature.
I hope you’ll join me for “King David,” as we honor the legendary Sir David Willcocks, this Sunday night at 10 ET, with a repeat Wednesday evening at 6; or that you’ll listen to it later as a webcast, at wwfm.org.
Today is the 70th birthday of John Rutter. How did that happen? Ah well, none of us are getting any younger.
Rutter, of course, is one of England’s most successful choral composers and conductors. It’s impossible to get through the Christmas season without hearing oodles of his work. The bigger pieces can be a little hit and miss (the “Gloria” gets too close to Walton at times, and “big” is not really Rutter’s forte, if you’ll pardon the inadvertent play on words), but when he hits, as in the lovely “Requiem,” he is well nigh irresistible – at least for someone with a cotton candy soul like myself.
Perhaps his music is not your cup of tea, but the choir he built, the Cambridge Singers (founded in 1981), sounds like nobody else. For better or worse, Like Ormandy’s Philadelphians, they bring their distinctive sound to everything they touch. The soft glow inspires contentment.
As a young man, he collaborated with the legendary Sir David Willcocks on four volumes of the extraordinarily successful “Carols for Choirs” anthology series, now the most widely used source of carols in the British Anglican tradition, and very popular among choral societies. By coincidence, I’ll be honoring Willcocks this Sunday night on “The Lost Chord.” Willcocks died on September 17, at the age of 95. Join me for rarities by Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams at 10 ET, at 89.1 FM or online at wwfm.org.
Happy birthday, John Rutter, and many happy returns.
Selections from John Rutter’s “Requiem” (1985), the perfect music for autumn, with the Cambridge Singers. Accept no substitutes!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HP7oYnXfyh0&list=PLMUnB4vc6zhWN_q7TidWNIABZaZzOnj9s
By the 2 minute mark, after an ominous opening, you get a pretty good idea of what you’re in for.
Aaron Copland (92) Beethoven (95) Composer (114) Film Music (119) Film Score (143) Film Scores (255) Halloween (94) John Williams (185) KWAX (229) Leonard Bernstein (99) Marlboro Music Festival (125) Movie Music (134) Opera (198) Philadelphia Orchestra (86) Picture Perfect (174) Princeton Symphony Orchestra (106) Radio (87) Ralph Vaughan Williams (85) Ross Amico (244) Roy's Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner (290) The Classical Network (101) The Lost Chord (268) Vaughan Williams (102) WPRB (396) WWFM (881)