Sir David Willcocks, 1919-2015

[EdgeleyRob]

My interest in RVW's choral works essentially started after I got Willcocks' recordings.
One of the feats of his influences on my
listening experiences.


RIP

Same here

RIP Sir David

[VodkaDilc]

I'd call it a half-diminished seventh on B (acting as you describe it as a ii7 - V - I [I think the key signature is D major - hence the natural sign before the C in the previous bar, cancelled with the C# on the word "of"] in A major).

The key signature is G major, but there is a C# in the previous bar, marking a modulation to D. The C natural is therefore redundant, but perhaps DW thought it advisable to remove any doubt.

To my mind the tingle factor is just as great a few bars later, on the final "O Come" - a diminished 7th chord with a low G# which then rises chromatically in the following seven chords.

[Stan Drews]

There can hardly be a chorister of the past 50 years who isn't indebted to Sir David. His Carols for Choirs was my own introduction to his name in around 1965 and his wonderful carol descants were a joy to sing, brilliant tunes in their own right.

Let's hope that King's do as many of them as possible this coming Christmas Eve.

RIP Sir David Willcocks.

Indeed, and all carol descants thereafter have been measured on a scale + or - Willcocks (usually - ). I'd hoped to be able to celebrate his centenary; there's a certain poignancy for me as my late father was born born on the same day.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

The key signature is G major, but there is a C# in the previous bar, marking a modulation to D. The C natural is therefore redundant, but perhaps DW thought it advisable to remove any doubt.

- as you were; Half-dim7 on B, acting as a ii7 - V - i Cadence in A minor (and with an augmented second C - D# in the last bar; more piquant than I was hearing in D/A major).

(Actually, with the G7 created by the C natural in the first of the three bars, the half-dim chord could be heard as a rootless G9 chord! It's the rising chromatic E - F in the top line mirrored by the F# - F in the right hand "thumb" AND the C - B in the Bass that creates the logic and the tingle factor here.)

[VodkaDilc]

(Actually, with the G7 created by the C natural in the first of the three bars, the half-dim chord could be heard as a rootless G9 chord! It's the rising chromatic E - F in the top line mirrored by the F# - F in the right hand "thumb" AND the C - B in the Bass that creates the logic and the tingle factor here.)

Should that be D7 - or are we looking at different bars?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Should that be D7

<doh> - yes it should, of course.

[BBMmk2]

Very sad to hear but all one can say is that he had a wonderfully fulfilled enriched life, I am certain of that! RIP

[Richard Tarleton]

The obituary in The Times today carries a photo of him receiving the Military Cross from Montgomery in 1944, for his actions at the battle for Hill 112 at Caen.

[pastoralguy]

The obituary in The Times today carries a photo of him receiving the Military Cross from Montgomery in 1944, for his actions at the battle for Hill 112 at Caen.

I read that too. Wow! What a man.

[Pulcinella]

The obituary in The Times today carries a photo of him receiving the Military Cross from Montgomery in 1944, for his actions at the battle for Hill 112 at Caen.

Unfortunately, they also say that he was a border [sic] at Westminster Abbey!

[VodkaDilc]

The late Robert Tear's obituary of Sir David in today's Guardian has a surprising claim; perhaps correct, but it struck me as odd:

He became Director of the Royal College in 1974 and was knighted in 1977. Throughout this period he was also general music editor at OUP. He broke new ground here too, producing with the composer John Rutter the carol book that was to outsell all others, 100 Carols for Choirs. Several further volumes followed its lead, repackaging old carols and publishing new ones, in a format that good amateur singers could master.


As I remember it, 100 Carols was a later selection from the earlier Carols for Choirs books. The real trend-setter was the well-known green Carols for Choirs Book 1, which I remember from the mid 1960s, but which I see was published in 1961. This was followed by the orange book, the blue book and so on. The new ground was broken in the 60s, not the 70s, as the obituary suggests. Does anyone agree?

[mercia]

my 100 Carols for Choirs, dated 1987, says on the back "74 of the most popular items from Carols for Choirs 1,2 and 3 in one volume + 26 pieces new to the series ........"

[VodkaDilc]

my 100 Carols for Choirs, dated 1987, says on the back "74 of the most popular items from Carols for Choirs 1,2 and 3 in one volume + 26 pieces new to the series ........"

Exactly. 100 Carols had a lot of omissions.

[mercia]

this may be a silly question, but how did the late Robert Tear write an obituary for Sir David ?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

As I remember it, 100 Carols was a later selection from the earlier Carols for Choirs books. The real trend-setter was the well-known green Carols for Choirs Book 1, which I remember from the mid 1960s, but which I see was published in 1961. This was followed by the orange book, the blue book and so on. The new ground was broken in the 60s, not the 70s, as the obituary suggests. Does anyone agree?