Angelus ad Virginem - David Willcocks

Excerpt from the 11 p.m. Carols, Communion, and Candlelight Christmas Eve service in Gordon Chapel at Old South Church, Boston, 12/24/22. Among the many positions held by British composer, organist, and conductor David Willcocks were Director of Music at King's College, Cambridge and Director of the Royal College of Music in London. While at Kings, he composed many anthems and carol settings for the annual Service of Nine Lessons and Carols. Many of these were later published in a four-volume anthology he edited with Reginald Jacques and John Rutter. They are widely used in churches across Great Britain, the United States, and Canada. "Angelus ad Virginem" is a medieval poem that paraphrases the Biblical story of the Annunciation, in which the angel Gabriel announces to Mary that she will give birth to Jesus. The text was likely brought to England by French friars in the 14th century; several manuscripts have been credibly dated to 1360 and it is mentioned in Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Miller's Tale" (c.1390). Willcock's setting bears striking similarities to his better-known arrangement of the "Sussex Carol". Both are in the same key (G), meter (6/8), have four verses, and the same disposition of voices across the verses. #DavidWillcocks #Christmas #OldSouthChurch