Sir David Valentine Willcocks CBE MC (30 December 1919–17 September 2015) was one of the most influential choirmasters of his age, working with singers of all ages, moulding voices and raising standards in all his work.
Following his early years as a chorister at Westminster Abbey, this Cornish youngster went on to study at Clifton College Bristol, The Royal College of Music for a year and then King’s College Cambridge as organ scholar, where he was to return later in life to bring fame to the choir and college, through the already well-established Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols broadcast by the BBC each Christmas Eve.
Between 1950 and 1957 he was organist of Worcester Cathedral, principal conductor of the Three Choirs Festival in 1951, 1954, and 1957, and conductor of the City of Birmingham Choir.
A lasting legacy is his editorship of the early volumes in the Carols for Choirs series. These volumes contain many arrangements by Sir David himself, all of which have become choral classics and well-loved by singers and listeners alike. This recording features twenty three of his best-known arrangements, ranging from exquisite gems of quiet stillness to rousing shouts of majestic praise, sung by the Choir of Worcester Cathedral. The Cathedral Choir is joined by the Worcester Festival Choral Society and Sennet Brass for the magnificent large-scale favourites, including O come, all ye faithful and Hark! the herald-angels sing.
This recording has been supported by a generous legacy to Worcester Cathedral from the estate of the late Sir David Willcocks.
