Scholar and amateur composer Robert Lucas Pearsall is known for his setting of the Christmas carol In dulci jubilo and the madrigal Lay a garland. Born into a wealthy Quaker family and privately educated, he practiced law until 1825, when he moved to Mainz, Germany, to study music. He subsequently relocating to Karlsruhe, and spent the last part of his life at Wartensee Castle, Switzerland. He wrote many part songs and madrigals, some for the Bristol Madrigal Society, as well as orchestral works, anthems and services. He also composed church music for both Roman Catholic and Anglican use, and helped to revive Renaissance polyphony and plainsong in Germans-speaking countries.