Lullay, my liking

For SATB and 5 soloists, unaccompanied This simple and appealing arrangement of a well-known 15th-century text alternates a gentle full-choir refrain with five verses for solo treble voices. As an optional ending, all verses may be sung together before one final refrain sung pianissimo. 'Lullay, my liking' was written for John Rutter on the occasion of his 60th birthday.

Born in 1919, David Willcocks began his musical career as a chorister at Westminster Abbey, later winning scholarships to Clifton College and King's College, Cambridge. Following war service, he was elected Fellow of King's College, and later became Organist of Salisbury and Worcester Cathedrals, conducting the Three Choirs Festival whilst at Worcester. Willcocks returned to King's College, Cambridge as Director of Music from 1957-1974, with the first collection of his arrangements in the Carols for Choirs series publishing in 1961. He was Director of Music at the Royal College of Music from 1974-1984, and was knighted in the Queen's Silver Jubilee Honours List in 1977. Willcocks also conducted The Bach Choir for 38 years, retiring in 1998. Sir David died in September 2015.