Alan Wheeler , the Editor of Once a Chorister (2000) in conversation with

Sir David Willcocks CBE MC,

Although I had known the name of David Willcocks, the first time I heard him was on a BBC Radio 4 programme broadcast on 5th April 1998 as he so eloquently spoke in support of the integrity of Martin Neary. One month later his name came came into sharper focus when we as a family were returning to Canterbury on Sunday 17th May 1998, having attended the Federation AGM at Lincoln the previous day and I turned on the car radio. A great cheer went up: it was Zadok the Priest, our family favourite, being played on 'Desert Island Discs' and Sue Lawley's Castaway was none other than Sir David. He sounded an interesting person and I learned that born in Newquay, Cornwall, he was from the age of eight a Chorister at Westminster Abbey, and later on an Organ Scholar at King's College Cambridge. He has held three important posts, Director of Music at King's College, Director of the Royal College of Music and Conductor of the Bach Choir. I decided to make contact with him to explore the possibility of featuring him in the 1999 Once a Chorister. His response was to write "might I suggest that you consider the year 2000, rather than 1999, as I shall (D.V) attain the age of 80 on 30th December 1999, and so there might be some excuse for interviewing an octogenarian" 

Sir David's birthday celebrations started a little early with him conducting, over a period of six months, some of the choirs and choral societies with which he had been associated during his professional career. It was in Worcester Cathedral on Saturday 20th November 1999 that I arranged to meet with a man regarded by many as .... 

I introduced myself to Sir David as he sat in the Nave following the score of the music being rehearsed by Adrian Lucas (Master of the Choristers) for that evening's concert.He looked 20 years younger than his age, his eyes twinkled, and I was immediately impressed by the genuine warmth of his greeting.

The concert to celebrate his 80th birthday went extremely well, the first half conducted by Adrian Lucas with Sir David taking up the baton after the interval for Elgar's The Music Makers.

It was clear for all to see that Sir David was immensely proud of his son Jonathan, whose composition Sing Praises was included in the programme. 

At the end of the concert Sir David was given a standing ovation and then all joined in to sing an unrehearsed Happy Birthday to you (by kind permission of the Dean and Chapter we learned afterwards.)

On then to the Chapter House where a Birthday Reception was held. Sir David,his wife Rachel and son Jonathan were clearly very much at home and amongst friends.

Time was readily available to so many of the wellwishers as they renewed acquaintances and reminisced with the family. Worcester had been the home of Sir David and Rachel for seven years from 1950 and their four children had all been born here. Sarah now a teacher and a magistrate, Jonathan a conductor and composer, Anne a civil servant and James, a doctor, who died from cancer at the age of 33. 

Presentations were made on behalf of the Dean and Chapter and the Worcester Festival Choral Society and Sir David responded graciously. "It will remind me of my 80th birthday, which I haven't yet reached" he quipped. 

Some 42 years after moving on from Worcester it is clear to me that Sir David and his family are remembered with great affection by many friends and music lovers. 

The next day Sir David was a Guest of Honour at the Worcester Old Choristers re-union lunch.

Sir David, looking back, says he was lucky to be able to spend his life doing
what he loves and being paid for it. " A good choirmaster must not only
understand how to develop a vocal technique but must also be a capable
all-round musician and the possessor of a keen ear. A love of music and the
desire to share with others, can generally elicit a sympathetic response from singers and players, anxious to give of their best".

On one occasion as a boy aged about ten he was conducted by Elgar. It was in St James's Park, at the unveiling of the statue to Queen Alexandra. Elgar, as Master of The King's Musick, conducted the choirs of Westminster Abbey, St Paul's Cathedral and the Chapel Royal. Sir David says " I'll never forget the charisma of that man. I was at the end of the row and I thought he was watching me the whole of that time, but the boy at the other end of the row told me he was watching him ."

It was when conducting the Cambridge Philharmonic Society Choir that he met his wife Rachel."She was the only person watching me "--says Sir David. They were married in 1947 in Selwyn College Chapel Cambridge where his father-in-law was Senior Tutor.

It was a piano tuner who first discovered that the young David , at the age
of six, had perfect pitch and promptly informed his parents . As a result his
mother arranged for him to have an audition with Sir Walford Davies - a
turning point in his life. Sir David remembers how Sir Walford, having given
him increasingly complex ear tests, slowly and gently played an arpeggio of C major and asked " Can you hear God speaking to you when I play that cord?" Sir David listened carefully. He couldn't, but he didn't wish to let his mother down so he said. "Yes Sir, I think I can".Sir Walford said,"Then you are a true musician."

Sir Walford commended Sir David to Dr (later Sir) Ernest Bullock, then
Organist of Westminster Abbey who agreed to audition him. "I asked if I
might sing a little piece called 'The Keeper,' says Sir David" and when
Dr Bullock said, 'I'll accompany you' I replied, 'I'd rather play for myself because the accompaniment is a bit tricky.' I thought the Organist of
Westminster Abbey might not manage something in two sharps." Nevertheless he was accepted and, apart from crying his eyes out during the first night, was very happy during his five years at the Abbey.

Sir David vividly recalls " singing Zadok the Priest as a boy in Westminster
Abbey in the presence of the King and Queen.They came for the distribution of the Royal Maundy Money on the Thursday in Holy Week. The excitement of singing that anthem in the very same building where Handel himself conducted it at the coronation of King George 11 and Queen Caroline can be imagined".

Boris Ord was his mentor when he was an undergraduate at Cambridge and Sir David says, "He taught me everything that I ever learnt about choir
training."

He was 19 when he joined the Army in 1940, just one year into his Organ
Scholarship at King's. During his war service he served in the 5th Battalion
Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, becoming a Captain in 1944. Sir David says that he undoubtedly derived some benefit from his service in the Army. 
"For a young musician they seemed at the time to be five wasted years but in retrospect I am grateful that I experienced them. I learned the value of discipline and I learned how to make the best of a situation. I came to enjoy true comradeship and the mutual trust that comes from shared danger and discomfort."

It was when he was in Normandy serving as an intelligence officer with his
battalion that Sir David won the Military Cross of which, and as to how, he
says modestly " I didn't do anything which wasn't in the normal course of
duty. I was one of the lucky survivors of a unit that sustained exceptionally
heavy casualties at a critical stage in the campaign. I am conscious of many colleagues both living and dead, whowere equally, if not more, deserving of
recognition.

After Salisbury (1947-1950), where says Sir David " I first learned to
work happily with a Dean and Chaptor," it was on to become Master of the
Choristers and Organist at Worcester(1950-1957).It was here that he
came to admire Vaughan Williams." He was a great composer and a lovable
character....I got to know him very well, and he used to come to each of the Three Choirs Festivals and he was the dominant figure, succeeding Sir Edward Elgar who had been the "grand old man of English music" for so long . What I admired most about Vaughan Williams was his essential humility. Here was a great man in his late seventies or early eighties who was prepared to treat people of my age as equals." Sir David recalls Vaughan Williams, who's sight and hearing were failing at the age of 82 , rehearsing for the first performance of 'Hodie' in 1954 in Worcester Cathedral. Things ground to a halt because his beat wasn't very clear. Whereas most conductors would have blamed the choir or the orchestra. Vaughan Williams banged the desk and said, "I've told you a hundred times - don't watch me," Everyone thought what a wonderful man he was. The performance in the evening was magnificent,"

"Each chapter of my life has been enjoyable," says Sir David."The most
important part of my life was the span of 16 years that I spent as Director
of Music at King's College Cambridge. The advent of the long-playing record
led to the recording of a wide range of music,some of which had not been
performed for 400 years. "It was at Cambridge that Sir David brought the
Kings College Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols to ever widening audiences through television, radio broadcasts to more and more countries, and numerous carol recordings. As for choosing the chorister who was to sing the first verse of Once in Royal David's City, Sir David says " I would have three or four boys who were capable of singing the solo at very short notice.I deemed it unwise to tell one of them a week before that he would be given the solo, because he might well develop a cold in the meantime, resulting in disappointment ;furthermore it would give him time to get nervous , or more likely for his parents to get nervous ! At the beginning of the service, as soon as the red light began to flash I would point to the boy who I felt most suitable for that deceptively demanding task."

So how does Sir David train his choirs? It is necessary for a choral trainer
to have infinite patience, as there are no short cuts. Concurrently work must be undertaken on vocal technique and the development of a full range of tone and unified blend. Good intonation is of vital importance and lapses must be identified, analysed and corrected. Precision of rhythm, clarity of words, ensemble and balance are all vital aspects of choral technique. A choral trainer must have imagination in the conduct of rehearsals; concentration must be demanded of each individual, but that will only be readily forthcoming if rehearsals are interesting, varied in pacing and not devoid of humour".

In 1960, in addition to his duties at Kings, at the age of 40, Sir David
became Musical Director of the Bach Choir in succession to Dr Reginald
Jacques. Founded in 1876 and numbering some 250 singers, it is a choir with a distinguished history. "The singers, selected after rigorous auditions, are
dedicated, some travelling great distances every Monday evening to attend
rehearsals in Westminster Hall, just for the joy of singing "Sir David was
Musical Director for 38 years and, with few exceptions, was to be found in
Westminster on Monday nights throughout the season. Amongst his memories of the many foreign tours undertaken by the Bach Choir are the early performances in 1963 of Britten's War Requiem in Italy at Perugia, Milan (La Scala) and Venice (La Fenice) and subsequent performances of that work in Hong Kong, Portugal and the Netherlands.

From 1974 to 1984 Sir David was Director of the Royal College of Music in
London, one of the world's leading conservatories. During those years the
College celebrated the centenary of its foundation and funds were raised
which made possible inter alia the building of the magnificent Britten Theatre.

Does Sir David have a favourite musician? "Yes," he replies, "the late
Yehudi Menuhin, for many reasons.... his musicianship, consummate artistry, personal character, and his concern for humanity and the environment and for education in the broadest sense."

What is his favourite Cathedral ? I am fond of many English Cathedrals. but
naturally I have a strong affection for those in which I have
served....Westminster Abbey, Salisbury, Worcester and (through the three
Choirs Festival) Gloucester and Hereford. And also (through my West
Country upbringing and subsequent conducting career,) Truro,Exeter,Wells
and through my Bach Choir concerts, Winchester, Canterbury,Guildford, Ely,
Lincoln,York,Durham.....and (although not a Cathedral ) St George's
Chapel Windsor"

And his favourite Country ? Excluding the British Isles, New Zealand because
of the friendliness of its people, and their devotion to choral music. Its
scenic beauty is perhaps second to none".

What of his parents, brothers, sisters? " My Father was a bank manager, my
Mother, was a teacher before her marriage. I have two older brothers, one
retired from the Bank of England, the other retired from a leading firm of
stockbrokers."

And his interests apart from music? "My family and friends, walking and
cryptic crosswords."

"What" I ask, " during your lifetime has changed for the better and what for
the worse?" "For the better,"says Sir David"improved health-care and
life expectancy: communications and travel. For the worse, the invention of
weapons of mass destruction, pollution of the atmosphere and congestion in
cities."

Where do you like going on holiday? To an unspoilt,uncrowded part of
Cornwall or Wales, preferably one protected by the National Trust, where I
can walk along cliff paths with my family, in the knowledge that a stretch
of coast will be preserved for the benefit of future generations."

As for his favourite book, Sir David opts for the Oxford Book of Quotations
"for it prompts me to go to the sources of the quotations."

What was the most difficult decision he had to take? " Whether or not to
resign from the Directorship of Music at King's College Cambridge and from
the Conductorship  of the Cambridge University Musical Society to become Director of the Royal College of Music in London."

Turning to choristers, I enquired as to how they compare with those of this
day? "In my day boys voices changed on average between the ages of 14 and 16. Today the change is probably between 12 and 14. Opportunities for girls to sing the cathedral repotoire were very limited. Today many cathedrals have girls choirs working alongside the boys choirs. It is surely right that girls should enjoy the opportunity to participate in cathedral music, but it would be sad if the centuries-old tradition of all male choirs were thereby weakened. In general the standard of the cathedral and collegiate chapel choirs is probably higher than ever before and the repotoire much more challenging, but the virtual disappearance of weekday sung Matins, means many fine settings of Te Deum and Benedictus are now rarely heard."

As for the youth of today "They seem to be coping well with the rapidly
changing world. There are probably more strains and stresses in modern
society which, to be overcome, require moral courage and self-discipline."

I ask Sir David if he has any plans to retire. "I have retired many times."
he says, "from Salisbury Cathedral in 1950, from Worcester Cathedral and the City of Birmingham Choir in 1957, from the Bradford Festival Choral Society, and my Cambridge appointments in 1974, and from the Bach Choir in 1998. Since my retirement from the Bach Choir I have conducted concerts in many cities in the USA and Canada, in Brazil, South Africa, and several European countries, but I plan to make a phased withdrawal over the coming years!"

What is the best advice anyone has ever given him? " Not to be over-elated by any success or good fortune, and not to be excessively downcast by
failure, disappointment or bad luck," and he adds "We must count our
blessings"

Asked if he is religious, he replied " I am fascinated by the many different
expressions of belief, uncertainty and disbelief which have emanated from
philosophers over the ages. Though brought up in Christian schools, I have
alwaysfound great difficulty in accepting some tenets of the Christian creed. I have however appreciated the beauty of much sacred prose, poetry, music and other forms of art, such as painting, sculpture and architecture."

Finally I ask " How would you like to be remembered?" Sir David answers "as someone who for 80 plus years enjoyed sharing the love of music with
others."

Sir David.   Westminster  Abbey Chorister          1929-33

Article first published in  ONCE A CHORISTER   the magazine of the

Federation of Cathedral Old Choristers' Associations