One of three Christmas carols composed on older texts—this one anonymous, ca.1500—intended to give choirs substantial unaccompanied Christmas literature (see also “King of Kings,” G-6995, and “Christmas Bells,” G-6997). This lullaby has a lovely melismatic and polyphonic recurring refrain on the “lul” of “lullay.” The choral writing, with its occasion strings of parallel fifths, has a moderately contemporary sound. |
