This work serves as a definitive musical setting of a lullaby intended for choral performance during the Christmas season. John Rutter, a prominent British composer and conductor, composed this piece in 1978 for the choir of Clare College, Cambridge. The score provides a structured harmonic and melodic framework designed for SATB vocal arrangements with piano or chamber ensemble accompaniment.

Musicologists and choral directors identify this piece as a standard entry in the contemporary Christmas choral repertoire. Practitioners frequently note the accessibility of the vocal lines while highlighting the specific requirements for the chamber ensemble accompaniment.