Commissioned by King's College, Cambridge, for the 2016 Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, This Endernight is a tender, peaceful setting of well-known fifteenth-century words. The recurring melody has an appropriately lilting feel, and Berkeley employs artful textural juxtapositions, with solo lines always opening out into a rich, full-choir sound for the 'lullay, by-by' refrain. The organ part provides colour and support for the voices, with sparkling semiquavers leading into the final, vibrant section.

Programme Notes:
This anonymous c.1400 text is unusual for a carol in that it articulates the voice of the infant Jesus in dialogue with his mother. 'Ender' or 'Endris' means past or recent. Maternal feelings of tenderness are in abundance but there is also a knowingness about the importance of the event that is unfolding. It is an upbeat lullaby which looks forward to heavenly bliss and so culminates in a radiant cadence.