David Peebles
Encyclopedia
Biography
Little is known of his life but the majority of his work dates to between 1530 and 1576. He is known to have been a canonCanon (priest)
A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
at the Augustinian Priory of St Andrews until the Scottish Reformation
Scottish Reformation
The Scottish Reformation was Scotland's formal break with the Papacy in 1560, and the events surrounding this. It was part of the wider European Protestant Reformation; and in Scotland's case culminated ecclesiastically in the re-establishment of the church along Reformed lines, and politically in...
(1559–60). After leaving the priory at the Reformation he seems to have married and had two children. He was dead some time before 1592, as his wife's will of that date describes her as Peebles's "relict", and mentions two lawful sons, Andrew and Thomas.
Work and Influence
His most well-known composition, Si quis diligit me (text from JohnGospel of John
The Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...
14:23), is a motet
Motet
In classical music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions.-Etymology:The name comes either from the Latin movere, or a Latinized version of Old French mot, "word" or "verbal utterance." The Medieval Latin for "motet" is motectum, and the Italian...
for four voices (SATB) and was written around 1530 and presented to James V of Scotland
James V of Scotland
James V was King of Scots from 9 September 1513 until his death, which followed the Scottish defeat at the Battle of Solway Moss...
, who "being a musitian ... did lyke it verray weill". Francy Heagy added an alto part to this motet around 1547 and this is shown in most contemporary editions.
In the 1560s, following the Reformation
Scottish Reformation
The Scottish Reformation was Scotland's formal break with the Papacy in 1560, and the events surrounding this. It was part of the wider European Protestant Reformation; and in Scotland's case culminated ecclesiastically in the re-establishment of the church along Reformed lines, and politically in...
, Peebles was commissioned by James Stewart
James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray (1501 creation)
James Stewart, Earl of Moray was the illegitimate son of James IV of Scotland and his mistress Janet Kennedy. He was created Earl of Moray in 1501, and was young enough to avoid fighting at the disastrous Battle of Flodden Field in 1513. He went on to have a varied relationship with his...
, Earl of Moray
Earl of Moray
The title Earl of Moray has been created several times in the Peerage of Scotland.Prior to the formal establishment of the peerage, Earl of Moray, numerous individuals ruled the kingdom of Moray or Mormaer of Moray until 1130 when the kingdom was destroyed by David I of Scotland.-History of the...
and the natural son of James V, to set the Book of Psalms to music in four parts; 105 of these settings, written with the tune in the tenor, were composed for use in Scottish churches.