Healey Willan and What Is This Lovely Fragrance?

Fr. Scott Haynes

Among the great composers of sacred Christmas music in the twentieth century, Healey Willan holds a special place. He stands at the meeting point of old and new, where the austere beauty of Gregorian chant and Renaissance polyphony is reborn in a modern harmonic language that still breathes incense, candlelight, and prayer.

Healey Willan: A Composer of Sacred Atmosphere

Born in England and later settling in Canada, Willan became one of the most influential church musicians in North America. For decades he served as organist and choirmaster at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Toronto, shaping it into Canada's center of sacred music. He loved plainsong, Tudor polyphony, and modal harmony, and he believed that sacred music should not merely decorate the liturgy, but usher souls into reverence.

Willan’s sacred works often feel timeless. They do not rush. They unfold slowly, like a procession. He understood that Christmas music need not shout joy at every moment. Sometimes it whispers wonder.

That whisper is heard most clearly in his beloved carol anthem, What Is This Lovely Fragrance?.

An Ancient Carol, Reborn

The text of What Is This Lovely Fragrance? comes from a medieval French carol, sometimes known by its opening French line, Quelle est cette odeur agréable? Its poetry is simple and sensory. It does not begin with shepherds or angels, but with a question:

What is this lovely fragranceThat sweetly fills the air?

The answer unfolds gently. It is the fragrance of roses and lilies, symbols long associated with the Virgin Mary. It is the scent of heaven touching earth. It is Christ Himself, newly born, hidden in humility yet filling the world with grace.

Willan’s genius lies in how he treats this text. Rather than turning it into a bustling carol, he fashions it as a carol-anthem, something meant as much for contemplation as for celebration. The harmonies are warm and modal, reminiscent of Renaissance motets. The choral lines move with restraint, allowing the mystery to breathe.

This is music that feels at home in a candlelit church, when the creche is illuminated and the faithful linger in silence.

The Theology of Fragrance

The image of fragrance is deeply biblical and theological. In Sacred Scripture, holiness is often described through scent. The sacrifice pleasing to God rises like sweet incense. The saints are described as the “good odor of Christ.” In the Song of Songs, beloved by the Fathers as an image of Christ and the Church, love itself is perfumed.

In What Is This Lovely Fragrance?, the newborn Christ is not announced with trumpets but with scent. This teaches a profound truth of the Incarnation. God comes quietly. Grace often enters unnoticed. Christ transforms the world not by force, but by presence.

Willan’s setting reinforces this theology. Nothing is abrupt. Nothing is overstated. The listener is invited not to analyze, but to inhale, spiritually speaking, the sweetness of the mystery.

A Carol for Adoration

Unlike many Christmas carols meant for congregational singing, this piece belongs especially to the choir. It is a gift offered on behalf of the faithful, much like incense rising during the Mass. When sung well, it suspends time. It turns a moment of the Christmas liturgy into adoration.

In this way, Healey Willan shows himself not merely a composer, but a theologian in sound. His music teaches that Christmas joy is not only exuberant, but fragrant. It fills the soul quietly and remains long after the final chord fades.

What Is This Lovely Fragrance? reminds us that the birth of Christ changed the very atmosphere of the world. Heaven touched earth. And even now, if we are still enough, we may sense it.

Learn more about Healey Willan at the site of the Healey Willan Society.