John Sheppard
Encyclopedia
John Sheppard was an English
singer and composer.
1543 he was appointed Informator Choristarum at Magdalen College, Oxford
, where he remained until 1548. By 1552 he was a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal
, a post which he may have assumed directly after his departure from Magdalen. Research by David Chadd has revealed that his will was made on 1 December 1558 and that he was buried on 21 December, though he was awarded liveries for the funeral of Queen Mary
on 13 December and even for the coronation of Elizabeth I on 15 January 1559, evidently in ignorance of his death.
. The two most extensive sources of his music are the so-called Gyffard partbooks (GB-Lbm 17802-5), a set of four manuscript part-books probably copied during the 1570s for Dr Roger Gyffard (research by David Mateer) and GB-Och 979-83, five surviving part-books from a set of six copied after 1575 by the Windsor singingman John Baldwin. Much of the Gyffard music may have been composed during Sheppard’s Oxford years (the compiler had formerly been a Fellow of Merton College Oxford); but the music from the Christ Church part-books probably formed part of the repertory of the Chapel Royal choir during the 1550s, when Sheppard and Tallis were the two principal composing members of the choir. Sheppard was evidently a key figure in Mary Tudor
’s programme to supply the Chapel with elaborate polyphony for the Sarum Rite
, which was restored by the Catholic monarch on her accession in 1553. The greater part of Sheppard’s music was composed for it.
, constructed in units of six-part polyphony alternating with a mosaic of semi-choir sections. The principal unifying device, apart from the head-motive passages at the beginning of each movement, is the eight-note figure F-E-F-G-A-Bb-G-F, which occurs in the tenor at various points. Of the four four-part Mass cycles, The Western Wind is based on a derived popular melody which also formed the basis of Mass cycles by John Taverner and Christopher Tye
. In Sheppard’s setting the melody migrates between the treble and the tenor. Two other cycles, Be not afraid and The Frences Mass, are both elaborately contrapuntal and freely constructed, the first being scored for men’s voices. The Plainsong Mass for a Mean is a much simpler work. Written in the simplified notation known as ‘strene’ it follows in the tradition of a setting in similar style by Taverner. It includes a Kyrie (unlike most Sarum Mass cycles) and uses alternatim technique, with alternating sections in chant and polyphony.
for the Sarum Office
. There are 21 responsories, elaborate liturgical units normally sung at Matins
in which progressively shortened repetitions of the responsory itself alternate with verses and a doxology
. Sheppard often set the responsory to five or six-part polyphony
with the chant sung as a cantus firmus
in the tenor (less commonly in the treble or mean) and leaving the incipit, verses and doxology to be chanted. A good example of this technique is Sheppard’s six-part setting of Verbum caro factum est (the ninth responsory at Matins on Christmas Day). In a few settings of ferial responsaries for Advent
and Lent
he employs the reverse procedure, providing polyphony for the incipit
, the verses and the doxology
but leaving the responsory itself to be sung to plainsong (In manus tuas a4). One of the most grandiose of Sheppard’s responsories is Gaude, gaude, gaude Maria (a6), a magnificent setting of the responsory and interpolated prosa for Second Vespers for the Feast of the Purification.
Like Tallis, Sheppard also composed alternatim hymns, with the even-numbered verses sung to polyphony with chant cantus firmus and the odd-numbered verses left to be chanted. Usually the cantus firmus is in the treble. There are also a number of additional items for particularly solemn feasts of the Church calendar, including settings of the Gradual
at Mass for Easter
Day (Haec dies a6), and of the Kyrie as sung at Second Vespers. An alternatim setting of the processional psalm In exitu Israel, composed for the Paschal Vigil, was set jointly by Sheppard, William Mundy and the young William Byrd
.
in 1549 and thus created a need for liturgical music for English texts. Four services (settings of canticles and other items for the new English Matins, Evensong
and Communion
services) have all survived in incomplete form, the Second Service being of interest in that it influenced the design of Byrd’s Great Service (research by Richard Turbet). Sheppard’s fifteen English anthems, most of which are a4, comply with the demands of the Protestant reformers for simplicity, clear, audible words and largely syllabic text-underlay. His five-part English setting of the Lord’s Prayer nevertheless overcomes these limitations and achieves a degree of musical elaboration. The part-songs O happy dames and Vain, vain, all our life we spend in vain (both a4) are Sheppard’s only known secular works.
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...
singer and composer.
Biography
In 1554 he supplicated, apparently unsuccessfully, for the degree of Doctor of Music at Oxford University, stating that he had studied music for 20 years and had "composed many songs". If his study period began in 1534 it is probable that he was born in the second decade of the sixteenth century. At MichaelmasMichaelmas
Michaelmas, the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel is a day in the Western Christian calendar which occurs on 29 September...
1543 he was appointed Informator Choristarum at Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
, where he remained until 1548. By 1552 he was a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal
Chapel Royal
A Chapel Royal is a body of priests and singers who serve the spiritual needs of their sovereign wherever they are called upon to do so.-Austria:...
, a post which he may have assumed directly after his departure from Magdalen. Research by David Chadd has revealed that his will was made on 1 December 1558 and that he was buried on 21 December, though he was awarded liveries for the funeral of Queen Mary
Mary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
on 13 December and even for the coronation of Elizabeth I on 15 January 1559, evidently in ignorance of his death.
Sources
Sheppard was one of the finest English church composers of the Tudor era, his achievements matched in his generation only by Thomas TallisThomas Tallis
Thomas Tallis was an English composer. Tallis flourished as a church musician in 16th century Tudor England. He occupies a primary place in anthologies of English church music, and is considered among the best of England's early composers. He is honoured for his original voice in English...
. The two most extensive sources of his music are the so-called Gyffard partbooks (GB-Lbm 17802-5), a set of four manuscript part-books probably copied during the 1570s for Dr Roger Gyffard (research by David Mateer) and GB-Och 979-83, five surviving part-books from a set of six copied after 1575 by the Windsor singingman John Baldwin. Much of the Gyffard music may have been composed during Sheppard’s Oxford years (the compiler had formerly been a Fellow of Merton College Oxford); but the music from the Christ Church part-books probably formed part of the repertory of the Chapel Royal choir during the 1550s, when Sheppard and Tallis were the two principal composing members of the choir. Sheppard was evidently a key figure in Mary Tudor
Mary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
’s programme to supply the Chapel with elaborate polyphony for the Sarum Rite
Sarum Rite
The Sarum Rite was a variant of the Roman Rite widely used for the ordering of Christian public worship, including the Mass and the Divine Office...
, which was restored by the Catholic monarch on her accession in 1553. The greater part of Sheppard’s music was composed for it.
Masses
Of Sheppard’s five surviving Mass ordinary cycles, the Missa Cantate (a6) is a full-length, sumptuous festal setting in the tradition of John TavernerJohn Taverner
John Taverner was an English composer and organist, regarded as the most important English composer of his era.- Career :...
, constructed in units of six-part polyphony alternating with a mosaic of semi-choir sections. The principal unifying device, apart from the head-motive passages at the beginning of each movement, is the eight-note figure F-E-F-G-A-Bb-G-F, which occurs in the tenor at various points. Of the four four-part Mass cycles, The Western Wind is based on a derived popular melody which also formed the basis of Mass cycles by John Taverner and Christopher Tye
Christopher Tye
Christopher Tye was an English composer and organist, who studied at Cambridge University and in 1545 became a Doctor of Music both there and at Oxford.He was choirmaster of Ely Cathedral from about 1543 and also organist there from 1559...
. In Sheppard’s setting the melody migrates between the treble and the tenor. Two other cycles, Be not afraid and The Frences Mass, are both elaborately contrapuntal and freely constructed, the first being scored for men’s voices. The Plainsong Mass for a Mean is a much simpler work. Written in the simplified notation known as ‘strene’ it follows in the tradition of a setting in similar style by Taverner. It includes a Kyrie (unlike most Sarum Mass cycles) and uses alternatim technique, with alternating sections in chant and polyphony.
Latin music
Sheppard wrote a large body of polyphonyPolyphony
In music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ....
for the Sarum Office
Sarum Rite
The Sarum Rite was a variant of the Roman Rite widely used for the ordering of Christian public worship, including the Mass and the Divine Office...
. There are 21 responsories, elaborate liturgical units normally sung at Matins
Matins
Matins is the early morning or night prayer service in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. The term is also used in some Protestant denominations to describe morning services.The name "Matins" originally referred to the morning office also...
in which progressively shortened repetitions of the responsory itself alternate with verses and a doxology
Doxology
A doxology is a short hymn of praises to God in various Christian worship services, often added to the end of canticles, psalms, and hymns...
. Sheppard often set the responsory to five or six-part polyphony
Polyphony
In music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ....
with the chant sung as a cantus firmus
Cantus firmus
In music, a cantus firmus is a pre-existing melody forming the basis of a polyphonic composition.The plural of this Latin term is , though the corrupt form canti firmi is also attested...
in the tenor (less commonly in the treble or mean) and leaving the incipit, verses and doxology to be chanted. A good example of this technique is Sheppard’s six-part setting of Verbum caro factum est (the ninth responsory at Matins on Christmas Day). In a few settings of ferial responsaries for Advent
Advent
Advent is a season observed in many Western Christian churches, a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. It is the beginning of the Western liturgical year and commences on Advent Sunday, called Levavi...
and Lent
Lent
In the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...
he employs the reverse procedure, providing polyphony for the incipit
Incipit
Incipit is a Latin word meaning "it begins". The incipit of a text, such as a poem, song, or book, is the first few words of its opening line. In music, it can also refer to the opening notes of a composition. Before the development of titles, texts were often referred to by their incipits...
, the verses and the doxology
Doxology
A doxology is a short hymn of praises to God in various Christian worship services, often added to the end of canticles, psalms, and hymns...
but leaving the responsory itself to be sung to plainsong (In manus tuas a4). One of the most grandiose of Sheppard’s responsories is Gaude, gaude, gaude Maria (a6), a magnificent setting of the responsory and interpolated prosa for Second Vespers for the Feast of the Purification.
Like Tallis, Sheppard also composed alternatim hymns, with the even-numbered verses sung to polyphony with chant cantus firmus and the odd-numbered verses left to be chanted. Usually the cantus firmus is in the treble. There are also a number of additional items for particularly solemn feasts of the Church calendar, including settings of the Gradual
Gradual
The Gradual is a chant or hymn in the liturgical celebration of the Eucharist for many Christian denominations. In the Tridentine Mass it was and is sung after the reading or chanting of the Epistle and before the Alleluia, or, during penitential seasons, before the Tract. In the Mass of Paul VI...
at Mass for Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
Day (Haec dies a6), and of the Kyrie as sung at Second Vespers. An alternatim setting of the processional psalm In exitu Israel, composed for the Paschal Vigil, was set jointly by Sheppard, William Mundy and the young William Byrd
William Byrd
William Byrd was an English composer of the Renaissance. He wrote in many of the forms current in England at the time, including various types of sacred and secular polyphony, keyboard and consort music.-Provenance:Knowledge of Byrd's biography expanded in the late 20th century, thanks largely...
.
English music
Sheppard’s music for the new Protestant rite, which has suffered seriously from the loss of manuscript sources, was presumably composed during the reign of Edward VI which saw the publication of the Book of Common PrayerBook of Common Prayer
The Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English...
in 1549 and thus created a need for liturgical music for English texts. Four services (settings of canticles and other items for the new English Matins, Evensong
Evening Prayer (Anglican)
Evening Prayer is a liturgy in use in the Anglican Communion and celebrated in the late afternoon or evening...
and Communion
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
services) have all survived in incomplete form, the Second Service being of interest in that it influenced the design of Byrd’s Great Service (research by Richard Turbet). Sheppard’s fifteen English anthems, most of which are a4, comply with the demands of the Protestant reformers for simplicity, clear, audible words and largely syllabic text-underlay. His five-part English setting of the Lord’s Prayer nevertheless overcomes these limitations and achieves a degree of musical elaboration. The part-songs O happy dames and Vain, vain, all our life we spend in vain (both a4) are Sheppard’s only known secular works.
Editions
- Modern Edition: Early English Church Music Stainer and Bell, Vols 17 (ed. David Chadd) and 18 (ed. Nicholas Sandon)
Recordings
- Ceremony & Devotion- Harry ChristophersHarry ChristophersHarry Christophers is an English conductor. He attended the King's School, Canterbury and was a chorister at Canterbury Cathedral under choirmaster Allan Wicks and played clarinet in the school orchestra alongside Andrew Marriner...
, The SixteenThe SixteenThe Sixteen are a choir and period instrument orchestra; founded by Harry Christophers in 1979.The group's special reputation for performing early English polyphony, masterpieces of the Renaissance, bringing fresh insights into Baroque and early Classical music and a diversity of 20th century...
. (CORO) - Media Vita; Music for Compline, Stile AnticoStile Antico (early music vocal ensemble)Stile Antico is a British vocal ensemble, specialising in the polyphonic music of the Renaissance and Early Baroque.Established in 2001, they won the Audience Prize at the 2005 Early Music Network Young Artists' Competition, and have since been described as "one of the brightest new stars in the...
.