Unger M.P. Historical Dictionary of Choral Music
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music, he commissioned over 270 choral works during his choir’s
life span (1972–2005). Before devoting himself full-time to the Sing-
ers, he served for 19 years as director of choral music at Macalester
College, St. Paul. As an editor, he established choral series with G.
Schirmer, Hal Leonard, Earthsongs, Colla Voce, and Walton Music.
His work has been recognized with numerous awards, and he is in
demand internationally as a guest conductor, lecturer, composer, and
clinician.
WARLOCK, PETER [PHILIP ARNOLD HESELTINE] (30 OC-
TOBER 1894–17 DECEMBER 1930). English composer, editor,
and writer about music.
Though named Philip Heseltine, he composed under the pseud-
onym Peter Warlock. Largely self-taught musically, he was greatly
influenced by Frederick Delius; he also admired Bernard van Dieren
and Béla Bartók. His keen interest in early music led to hundreds of
published editions and a book on Carlo Gesualdo, among several
other books. He also wrote 73 articles, and many letters, of which
approximately 1,000 survive. His personal life was unstable: he
was often unemployed, he dabbled in the occult, and he had stormy
relationships with others, including (especially) the writer D. H.
Lawrence.
Among his two dozen choral pieces are several for eight-part
mixed choir and some memorable carol settings. An early secular
piece, The Full Heart, for S and SSAATTBB (1916, rev. 1921), pays
tribute to Gesualdo with complex chromatic writing.
WASHBURN, JON. See VANCOUVER CHAMBER CHOIR.
WATSON HENDERSON, RUTH (23 NOVEMBER 1932– ). Ca-
nadian composer, pianist, and organist. She began composing while
serving as the accompanist for Elmer Iseler’s Festival Singers
(1968–79). When the Toronto Children’s Chorus was founded in
1978, she became its accompanist in turn, and subsequently wrote
many pieces for young singers. Her output includes more than 80
choral works. Examples include the Missa Brevis for SSATTBar.B
(1976), Voices of Earth, for chbr. choir, SATB, children’s choir, and
2 piano/orch. (1991); Clear Sky and Thunder, a children’s drama for
SSA, fl., pf., and perc. (1983); and Magnificat for SATB and org.
(2002).
462 • WARLOCK, PETER
WEBER, CARL MARIA VON (?19 NOVEMBER 1786–5 JUNE
1826). German composer and conductor. Most famous as a composer
of operas (after the success of Der Freischütz), he was influential in
establishing various programmatic instrumental forms and the re-
lated techniques of vivid Romantic orchestration. Among his extant
choral works are some 45 pieces for vocal ensemble (most of them
unaccompanied, among them, 11 canons). Widely popular were his
patriotic partsongs for unaccompanied male chorus, op. 42 (Berlin,
1816). For Carl Friedrich Zelter’s male Liedertafel he wrote Das
Turnierbankett (Füllet die Humpen, muthige Knappen), an extended
work for 2 T, B, and two four-voice male choruses (1812). Among
his cantatas (accompanied by orchestra) are Der erste Ton (1808,
rev. 1810), in which the SATB chorus enters only for the fugal end-
ing (the preceding text is delivered by a reciter); the patriotic Kampf
und Sieg (1815); and Jubel-Cantate, a celebratory work for the 50th
anniversary of the ascension of Friedrich August I of Saxony to the
throne. Weber’s liturgical music consists of three mass settings, two
of which are mature works: the festive Mass in E (1818), sometimes
called the Freischützmesse because of similarities with the opera, and
the Mass in G (1819), a less dramatic work, and one that places more
emphasis on the vocal solo roles.
WEBERN, ANTON (3 DECEMBER 1883–15 SEPTEMBER 1945).
Austrian composer who, with Alban Berg, helped establish Arnold
Schoenberg’s 12-note compositional technique. Although he gained
experience as a choral conductor in Vienna, he composed only a
few works for chorus. Among them is Entflieht auf leichten Kähnen,
op. 2 (1908, rev. pf. qt. and hmn. 1914), which is in a chromatic,
post-Romantic style. In his new serialist style are Das Augenlicht, a
cantata for op. 26, for SATB and orch. (1935); Cantata no. 1, op. 29,
for S, SATB, and orch. (1939); and Cantata no. 2, for S, B, SATB,
and orch. (1943), the latter two works characterized by strict canonic
procedures, symmetry, and word-painting.
WECKMANN, MATTHIAS (C. 1616–24 FEBRUARY 1674). Ger-
man composer who studied with Heinrich Schütz in Dresden and
served as one of the chapel organists there. In 1655 he successfully
auditioned for the organ posts at the Hamburg’s St. James’s Church
(Jacobikirche) and its associated St. Gertrude’s Chapel. In 1660 he
WECKMANN, MATTHIAS • 463
founded a collegium musicum, which became very successful. His
few surviving compositions are highly regarded, and he is considered
to be an important link between Heinrich Schütz and later Protes-
tant composers in Germany, especially Johann Sebastian Bach.
Extant vocal works include 12 sacred works, most of them for two
or three solo voices with instruments. Two are Latin hymn settings;
10 employ German texts. The latter tend to be settings of scripture
(he avoided chorale or poetic texts), the phrases being divided into
distinct sections that vary widely in instrumentation, style, and genre
(e.g., polyphonic or polychoral sections, declamatory passages in
both older and newer recitative styles, arias in the contemporary
style, and instrumental sections).
WEELKES, THOMAS (BAPTIZED 25 OCTOBER 1576; BUR-
IED DECEMBER 1623). English composer and organist. He was
employed as organist at Winchester College from 1598 to c. 1601;
then at Chichester Cathedral until January of 1617, when he was
dismissed for habitual drunkenness. His music shows a mastery of
musical imagery (especially evident in the madrigals), contrapuntal
technique (often used to majestic ends), and architectural planning.
His music is more complex and adventurous than that of his prede-
cessors. For example, it appropriates the extreme chromatic style of
the Italians for passionate expressions. Changing meters and simulta-
neous contrasting meters are common. However, Weelkes also wrote
light, satirical works in a style similar to Thomas Morley’s.
Although he wrote at least 9 services (more than any other major
composer of his time), none of them survive complete. Of some 45
surviving, securely attributed anthems, more than half are fragmen-
tary. The ones remaining show a preference for five or more voices.
Of approximately 90 madrigals, most are scored for three or five
voices; the rest call for four or six. A masterful example for six voices
is As Vesta Was from Latmos Hill Descending, his contribution to
Thomas Morley’s The Triumphes of Oriana.
WEERBEKE, GASPAR VAN (C. 1445–AFTER 1516). Franco-
Flemish composer who spent his career at the Sforza court in Milan
and at the papal court in Rome, where he was a colleague of Josquin
des Prez. He wrote mainly sacred music. Extant works include 8
masses, 2 Credo movements, 1 Magnificat, 22 motet cycles (simple
polyphonic works with largely syllabic declamation that were de-
464 • WEELKES, THOMAS
signed to replace sections of the mass), 20 polyphonic motets, and a
handful of secular works.
Weerbeke is noteworthy for his readiness to incorporate Italian
style into Franco-Flemish polyphony; this is especially evident in
the homophonic motets, which resemble laude. Most of his works
were printed during his own lifetime (a good number by Ottaviano
Petrucci), demonstrating the high regard in which they were held.
WEILL, KURT (2 MARCH 1900–3 APRIL 1950). German com-
poser who emigrated to the United States in 1935. A leading figure
in the development of modern musical theater, he wrote a few choral
works, mostly in the 1920s. They include Recordare, op. 11, for
SATB and 3-part children’s chorus (1923); Das Berliner Requiem,
a radio cantata for T, Bar., male chorus, and wind orch. (1928);
Der Lindberghflug, a cantata for T, Bar., chorus, and orch. (1929,
based on a withdrawn radio score); Zu Potsdam unter den Eichen,
for TTBB (1929, arr. from Das Berliner Requiem), The Ballad of
Magna Carta, a radio cantata for T, B, chorus, and orch. (1940); Die
Legende vom toten Soldaten, for SATB (1929); and Kiddush, for T,
SATB, and org. (1946). A handful of his stage works also give the
chorus a prominent role.
WELLESZ, EGON (21 OCTOBER 1885–9 NOVEMBER 1974).
Austrian composer, musicologist, and teacher. An expert on Byzan-
tine chant, he settled in Oxford when the Nazis invaded his home-
land. As a composer he worked in all genres, writing in a style some-
what reminiscent of Anton Bruckner and Franz Schmidt. Many of
his choral compositions grew out of his conversion to Catholicism.
Works with orchestra include Gebet der Mädchen zu Maria, op. 5,
for S and female vv. (1910); the cantata Mitte des Lebens, op. 45
(1931); Duineser Elegie, op. 90, (1963); the cantata Mirabile mys-
terium, op. 101 (1967); and Canticum sapientiae, op. 104 (1968).
Works with organ include Mass in F, op. 51 (1934); Proprium mis-
sae “Laetare,” op. 71 (1953); and Festliches Praeludium, op. 100
[on a Byzantine Magnificat] (1966). He also wrote Kleine Messe, op.
80a, for female vv. and pf. (1958); the unaccompanied Missa brevis,
op. 89 (1963); and a few other works, among them, two sets of pieces
for male chorus on German texts (one sacred, the other secular).
WERT, GIACHES DE (1535–6 MAY 1596). Franco-Flemish com-
poser active in Italy, especially in Mantua and Ferrara. Brought to
WERT, GIACHES DE • 465
Italy as a boy, he worked in Novellara before being appointed in
1565 as maestro di cappella at the ducal chapel in Mantua, a post he
retained for the rest of his career, while developing strong ties with
Ferrara.
Despite the responsibilities of his position at the basilica, Wert
found time to compose 16 volumes of secular works (all but one
published during his lifetime), which include more than 200 works,
most of them for five voices. As a result, he became known primarily
as a composer of madrigals. Dedicated to various members of the
nobility, they show a clear stylistic evolution. His early works are
similar to the madrigals of Cypriano de Rore. Those in Il quarto
libro (1567) begin to employ more homophony and textural con-
trast. Il sesto libro (1577) includes two long works in a declamatory
style that Wert apparently invented. With Il settimo libro (1581), a
marked stylistic transition becomes evident. Here Wert moves away
from the poetry of Francesco Petrarch in favor of more emotional
texts by Torquato Tasso and Battista Guarini, producing works that
are highly expressive, virtuosic, and mannered. No longer is imita-
tive polyphony the prevailing texture. Instead, Wert writes duets
and trios in dialogues, chordal passages in which the top voice is
predominant, and parlando passages. The sense of balance is now
lost; changes are so dramatic that continuity is weakened. All of these
characteristics point to the Baroque style, and there is little doubt that
these late works influenced Claudio Monteverdi, who was already
living in Mantua from about 1590.
Wert’s sacred pieces were written for the specific requirements of
the basilica’s liturgy, and are often set in alternatim fashion. With the
exception of three books of motets, they remained unpublished dur-
ing his lifetime. Nevertheless, the amount of material is considerable,
comprising over 200 individual pieces. Besides motets, they include
7 masses, 5 Magnificats, and a hymn cycle of 127 pieces.
WESLEY, SAMUEL SEBASTIAN (14 AUGUST 1810–19 APRIL
1876). English organist and composer of Anglican cathedral music.
He was named after his father, Samuel Wesley, and his father’s hero,
Johann Sebastian Bach. During his career he held many differ-
ent organ positions, the high number apparently due to an abrasive
personality. His music is bold and original (at least for Anglican
cathedral music of the time), with interesting, sometimes dissonant,
466 • WESLEY, SAMUEL SEBASTIAN
harmonies, aria-like solo writing, fugal textures (influenced by
Bach), and choral recitative-like passages—all used to underscore
the devotional and dramatic meaning of the text.
Included among Wesley’s surviving choral works are whole or
partial services (particularly noteworthy is his Service in E), 37
anthems (all with organ accompaniment), 180-plus hymn tunes, 39
chants, and a handful each of Latin sacred pieces, English glees, and
English partsongs. A memorable example of his shorter anthems is
Wash Me Throughly. Others include The Wilderness and Let Us Lift
Up Our Heart, both for solo vv., mixed choir, and org.
WESTENBERG, RICHARD (26 APRIL 1932–20 FEBRUARY
2008). American organist and conductor. In 1964 he founded Musica
Sacra, a professional choir of some 30-plus members in New York.
Having completed a master’s degree in musicology at the University
of Minnesota (1956) and then studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger
and Jean Langlais, he was sensitive to trends in the field of histori-
cal performance practice. While commanding a vast repertoire from
medieval to 20th-century works, he became known for his interpreta-
tions of George Frideric Handel’s Messiah. His academic appoint-
ments included ones at the Mannes College of Music (1971–77), the
Juilliard School (1977–89), and Rutgers University (1986–92).
WESTMINSTER ABBEY CHOIR (THE CHOIR OF WESTMIN-
STER ABBEY, LONDON). Comprised of some 30 boys (who at-
tend the associated Choir School) and 12 professional adult singers
(called lay vicars), the choir sings daily choral services and at royal,
state, and national occasions taking place in Westminster Abbey—the
country’s most famous Gothic church. In addition, the choir performs
extensively in concerts at home and abroad.
WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL CHOIR OF LONDON. Choir of
the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster
in London. Dedicated to furnishing music for the liturgy, it is known
for its expertise in 16th century polyphony. The first Master of Music
was Richard Terry, who directed the choir from 1902 until 1924. The
Cathedral’s associated choir school is home to the boys of the choir.
WESTMINSTER CHOIR COLLEGE. A professional music school
with a choral emphasis in Princeton, New Jersey. It traces its origins
WESTMINSTER CHOIR COLLEGE • 467
to a choir formed in 1920 at Westminster Church of Dayton, Ohio,
by John Finley Williamson. Classes for Protestant church directors
followed in 1926. The resulting school moved in 1929 to Ithaca,
New York, and to Princeton in 1932. It adopted its present name in
1939, and joined Rider College (now Rider University) in 1991. The
Symphonic Choir of the college is known for its performances with
the New York Philharmonic, among other orchestras.
WHITACRE, ERIC (2 JANUARY 1970– ). American composer
and conductor. After studying with John Corigliano at the Juilliard
School of Music, he rapidly gained popularity in the choral world
with evocative works employing extended chords with quartal,
quintal, and secondal harmonies, unconventional chord progressions,
aleatoric devices, mixed rhythms, and canonic ostinatos. Among his
more popular pieces (many of which are scored for eight choral parts
or more) are Water Night (1996), Cloudburst, with handbells, perc.,
and piano (1993), Sleep (2000), Leonardo Dreams of His Flying
Machine, for SSATB and perc. (2001), Lux Aurumque (2001), and A
Boy and a Girl (2002).
WHITE, ROBERT (C. 1538–NOVEMBER 1574). English composer
who worked as Master of Choristers at Chester Cathedral, then from
1570, at Westminster Abbey. All of his surviving choral composi-
tions are sacred; nearly half are Latin psalm settings. Altogether,
there are some 20 Latin pieces (over half of them fragmentary) and
8 English ones. Three of the latter employ the same music (“O How
Glorious”). Most of his works call for five or six voices.
WIDOR, CHARLES-MARIE (21 FEBRUARY 1844–12 MARCH
1937). French organist, composer, and teacher; known primarily for
his organ works. In 1870 he became organist at St. Sulpice in Paris,
where he continued for 64 years. In 1890 he became professor of
organ at the Paris Conservatoire, succeeding César Franck. Later,
when Théodore Dubois became director of the Conservatoire, Widor
succeeded him as professor of composition. His choral works include
a mass (for double choir and 2 org.), a handful of other sacred works
(usually with 1 or 2 org.), and a few secular works.
WIENER SÄNGERKNABEN (VIENNA BOYS CHOIR). Boys
choir with an associated school in Vienna. Founded in 1498, it for-
merly provided music for the Austrian imperial court chapel. Today it
468 • WHITACRE, ERIC
comprises four choirs (all boys with unchanged voices), which share
equally in the duties of performing locally, touring, and recording.
WILBERG, MACK (20 FEBRUARY 1955– ). American pianist,
choral composer and arranger, and music director of the Mormon
Tabernacle Choir (from 2008). His choral settings often include
imaginative piano accompaniments (some for four hands).
WILBYE, JOHN (BAPTIZED 7 MARCH 1574; DIED SEPTEM-
BER/NOVEMBER 1638). English composer. Little is known about
his life. He was one of England’s finest madrigalists, and one of the
few to be supported by a patron family (the Kytsons of Hengrave
Hall, outside Bury St. Edmunds).
Wilbye’s surviving works include two books of madrigals (1598,
1609) containing 58 pieces for three to six voices, and a handful of
sacred pieces. His expressive manner (which came to full develop-
ment in the madrigals of his second volume and relied a great deal on
the technique of sequential repetition) was unsurpassed; he was espe-
cially effective at conveying changing emotional states. Often he var-
ied the vocal texture—in contrast to Thomas Weelkes, who favored
more consistently full textures—and he used alternations between
major and minor sonorities (but without extensive chromaticism)
to good effect. Enduring favorites include Adieu, Sweet Amaryllis;
Flora Gave Me Fairest Flowers; Love Me Not for Comely Grace;
and Weep, O Mine Eyes. His contribution to Thomas Morley’s The
Triumphes of Oriana was the six-voice The Lady Oriana.
WILLAERT, ADRIAN (C. 1490–7 DECEMBER 1562). Composer
of the Franco-Flemish school, active in Italy. He was the most im-
portant composer and teacher in Europe between Josquin des Prez
and the age of Orlande de Lassus and Giovanni Pierluigi da Pal-
estrina. According to his student Gioseffo Zarlino, he went to Paris
to study law, but then became a member of Louis XII’s royal cham-
ber, where he apparently studied with Jean Mouton. Around 1514
he visited Rome, and was subsequently hired by the d’Este family of
Ferrara—first by Cardinal Ippolito I d’Este then, upon the cardinal’s
death in 1520, by Duke Alfonso. Evidently, the Cardinal’s influence
helped Willaert make many contacts throughout Europe.
On 12 December 1527 he was appointed maestro di cappella
at San Marco (St. Mark’s Basilica) in Venice. There he had at his
WILLAERT, ADRIAN • 469
disposal at least 16 adult singers, in addition to boy choristers. Stu-
dents came from all over Europe to study with him; many became
influential—among them, Cypriano de Rore (who succeeded him as
maestro di cappella) and Baldassare Donato.
Willaert’s wide influence is demonstrated by the fact that he was
often sought out for his opinions on compositional matters. While he
did not invent the polychoral style, a set of eight polychoral psalm
settings published in 1550 as part of a collection entitled I salmi . . . a
uno et a duoi chori were pivotal in popularizing the style across Europe
and establishing its association with Venice.
Willaert worked in a wide variety of genres, both sacred and
secular. His motets, polychoral psalm settings, and Italian madri-
gals were highly influential. He left only about 10 masses (many of
them based on motets by Mouton), but approximately 170 motets
(most for four or five voice parts but some for as many as eight), and
over 50 hymns and psalms. The motets were widely circulated and
discussed in print. They are considered the greatest among his works
(especially those published from 1539 onward), being admired for
their smooth integration of all voice lines, careful (usually syllabic)
text declamation, masterful counterpoint (including both imitative
and nonimitative writing, complex canons, the use of chant material
stated either as cantus firmus or in paraphrase), and other structural
devices.
Willaert’s approximately 65 chansons, for three to six voices, usu-
ally incorporate previously existing material—either French melodies
or polyphonic material by other composers. Of some 55 extant mad-
rigals (usually for four to six voices) the most weighty are 25 works
included in a 1559 publication called Music Nova (which atypically
also includes many motets). Their texts are almost exclusively son-
nets by Francesco Petrarch. Their expressiveness and careful dec-
lamation is couched in a dense, continuous, and largely nonimitative
polyphony. Very popular were Willaert’s canzone villanesce—rus-
tic, colloquial songs. While his predecessors had written villanesce in
three voices, Willaert almost invariably employed four.
Willaert’s large body of work and his many students helped es-
tablish his reputation. Especially important in this regard were the
writings of Zarlino, which established the contrapuntal style of his
teacher as the standard, even as late as Claudio Monteverdi’s day.
470 • WILLAERT, ADRIAN
WILLAN, HEALEY (12 OCTOBER 1880–16 FEBRUARY 1968).
Canadian composer and teacher, who has been called that country’s
“Dean of Composers.” Born in England, he spent most of his career
in Toronto, where he served as organist and choirmaster at the An-
glican Church of St. Mary Magdalene, head of the Theory Depart-
ment at the Toronto Conservatory of Music, and professor of music
at the university.
A highly prolific composer, Willan wrote many masses and mass
movements (including 14 missae breves)—most of these in Eng-
lish, dozens of full or partial settings of the canticles, more than 30
motets, over 40 anthems (including O Lord, Our Governor for the
coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953), more than 30 hymn-anthems,
over two dozen hymn tunes, over 40 to hymn tunes, and plainsong
adaptations. Many of his short anthems and motets were written for
the Lutheran Church in the U.S. His larger works include An Apos-
trophe to the Heavenly Hosts (Easter liturgy), for unaccompanied
double chorus with semi-chorus (1921); The Mystery of Bethlehem, a
cantata for S, B, SATB, and org., with 10 winds, drums, hp./pf., and
glock. ad lib. (1923); Te Deum in B-flat, for SSAATTBB and orch.
(1937); and the Coronation Suite, for SSATB and orch. (1952). He
also wrote dozens of partsongs and choral folksong arrangements.
Willan’s large-scale choral works are characterized by the lush
harmonies and spacious dimensions of Romantic predecessors such
as Hubert Parry and Charles Villiers Stanford. His smaller works,
on the other hand, demonstrate his adherence to the values of Anglo-
Catholicism, with its love for chant and Renaissance polyphony. His
own choral performances of Renaissance music in both church and
concert settings had great influence on choral singing and repertoire
in Canada.
WILLCOCKS, [SIR] DAVID (30 DECEMBER 1919– ). English
choral conductor, organist, and teacher. After serving as a boy choris-
ter at Westminster Abbey, he studied at the Royal College of Music,
then became an organ scholar at King’s College, Cambridge, com-
pleting his studies there after wartime military service. He became
organist at Salisbury Cathedral in 1947 and at Worcester Cathedral
in 1950. In 1957 he returned to Cambridge to become the organ-
ist of King’s College Chapel and to direct the chapel choir, whose
WILLCOCKS, DAVID • 471