Willcock's Akhmatova requiem for soprano solo, strings and percussion, was first performed in St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne in October 2001. In October 2001 the premiere was given of his major song cycle, Akhmatova Requiem, winner of the Maggs Award, with Merlyn Quaife the soprano soloist. This setting of the poem cycle Requiem by the great 20th century Russian poet, Anna Akhmatova (1889-1966), prompted a Russian listener to enquire how the composer could have known what Leningrad felt like during the Stalin Terror. Akhmatova's text was translated by D.M. Thomas.