John Redford
Encyclopedia
John Redford was a major English
composer
and organist
of the Tudor
period.
From about 1525 he was organist at St Paul's Cathedral
(succeeding Thomas Hickman) and choir
master there from 1534. Many of his works are represented in the Mulliner Book
. All his organ music is liturgical and mostly vocal in style, but some are in a distinctively keyboard style containing idiomatic ornamentation, and require high technical skill.
Unlike most of his colleagues, Redford also wrote songs and produced masque
s, or dramatic entertainment for the court. As he also held the post of Almoner and Master of the Choristers, Redford was in overall charge of the choristers' education, and this included performing entertainments at court. The most celebrated of these entertainments is the morality play, The Play of Wyt and Science (written ca 1530-1550), some of which is now lost.
He also wrote a number of poems, including the 23 verse Nolo mortem peccatoris, which was set to music by Thomas Morley
, who was a later organist at St. Paul's.
Another poem is The Chorister's Lament, in which choirboys complain of the cruel beatings meted out to them:
We have a cursyd master, I tell you all for trew
so cruell as he is was never Turke or Jue.
he is the most unhappiest man that ever ye knewe,
for to poor syllye boyes he wurkyth much woe.
Do we never so well, he can never be content,
but for our good wylles we ever more be shente [punished],
ofttimes our lytle butokes he dooth all to rent,
that we, poore sylye boyes, abyde much woe.
We have many lasshes to lerne this peelde [wretched] song,
that I wyll not lye to you now & then among;
out of our butokes we may plucke the stumpes thus long
that we, poore sylye boyes, abyde much woe.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and organist
Organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
of the Tudor
Tudor dynasty
The Tudor dynasty or House of Tudor was a European royal house of Welsh origin that ruled the Kingdom of England and its realms, including the Lordship of Ireland, later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1485 until 1603. Its first monarch was Henry Tudor, a descendant through his mother of a legitimised...
period.
From about 1525 he was organist at St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
(succeeding Thomas Hickman) and choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
master there from 1534. Many of his works are represented in the Mulliner Book
The Mulliner Book
The Mulliner Book is a historically important musical commonplace book compiled, probably between about 1545 and 1570, by Thomas Mulliner, about whom practically nothing is known, except that he figures in 1563 as modulator organorum of Corpus Christi College, Oxford...
. All his organ music is liturgical and mostly vocal in style, but some are in a distinctively keyboard style containing idiomatic ornamentation, and require high technical skill.
Unlike most of his colleagues, Redford also wrote songs and produced masque
Masque
The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment which flourished in 16th and early 17th century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio...
s, or dramatic entertainment for the court. As he also held the post of Almoner and Master of the Choristers, Redford was in overall charge of the choristers' education, and this included performing entertainments at court. The most celebrated of these entertainments is the morality play, The Play of Wyt and Science (written ca 1530-1550), some of which is now lost.
He also wrote a number of poems, including the 23 verse Nolo mortem peccatoris, which was set to music by Thomas Morley
Thomas Morley
Thomas Morley was an English composer, theorist, editor and organist of the Renaissance, and the foremost member of the English Madrigal School. He was the most famous composer of secular music in Elizabethan England and an organist at St Paul's Cathedral...
, who was a later organist at St. Paul's.
Another poem is The Chorister's Lament, in which choirboys complain of the cruel beatings meted out to them:
We have a cursyd master, I tell you all for trew
so cruell as he is was never Turke or Jue.
he is the most unhappiest man that ever ye knewe,
for to poor syllye boyes he wurkyth much woe.
Do we never so well, he can never be content,
but for our good wylles we ever more be shente [punished],
ofttimes our lytle butokes he dooth all to rent,
that we, poore sylye boyes, abyde much woe.
We have many lasshes to lerne this peelde [wretched] song,
that I wyll not lye to you now & then among;
out of our butokes we may plucke the stumpes thus long
that we, poore sylye boyes, abyde much woe.