Description
Peter Warlock (1894–1930) wrote some of the loveliest English Christmas carols of his time. Their melodies were often inspired by the Tudor lute-songs he loved, and their harmonic flavour inspired by his hero Frederick Delius.
Warlock dedicated his Three Carols to his close friend Ralph Vaughan Williams and it was Vaughan Williams who conducted the carols’ first performance (with orchestral accompaniment) in 1923 with the London Bach Choir.
Of the Three Carols, only the final carol was newly written: the other two were reconstituted from earlier formats. The first carol – Tyrley Tyrlow – is an upbeat affair with jaunty syncopations. The middle carol is a lullaby called Balulalow. It is a setting of a 16th century Scots dialect version of a cradle song by Luther which features striking harmonic anomalies. Lastly comes The Sycamore Tree which is sprightly a nod to I saw three ships.
