John Sheppard (composer)
John Sheppard (around 1515 - December 1558 ) was an English composer and organist .
Life
Only a few data from Sheppard's life have been secured: On Michaelmas Day 1543, September 29, he was appointed "Informator Choristarum" at Magdalen College in Oxford . Around 1552 he was appointed "Gentleman of the Chapel Royal ". In 1554 he applied for the academic title of "Director of Music" to Oxford University . From this it can be seen that at the time of the application he had already been studying music for 20 years. Accordingly, his year of birth can be determined to be around 1515.
Sheppard's works are missing from the Peterhouse , Cambridge manuscript collection , which was copied between around 1540 and 1547. It follows that Sheppard was a few years younger than John Taverner and Christopher Tye . His name appears on the attendance register for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth I in January 1559, but in fact he was buried in St Margaret's Church in Westminster on December 21, 1558 .
Works
Sheppard's creative period fell during the stormy years of the Anglican Reformation. He thus experienced the climax of Catholic polyphony and its subsequent downfall in England. With the exception of a few works for the Anglican Church, his musical legacy therefore consists exclusively of sacred music for the Roman Catholic Church and the Latin liturgy of Salisbury. His music is heavily contrapuntal .
His works include:
- Five masses, including The Western Wynde Mass and the Cantate Mass . The Western Wynde Mass is based - like the comparable settings by Taverner and Tye - on the song of the same name, The Western Wynde
- Two settings of the Magnificat
- Media vita , six-part movement for Lent
- Responsories and hymns; the texts for this come from the offices of the most important feasts of the liturgical year
CD
- 2009: John Sheppard, Media Vita and other liturgical works, stile antico , harmonia mundi, HMU 807509
literature
- Booklet texts for The Sixteen, Harry Christophers - 'Cantate' Mass and 'The Western Wynde' Mass , Hyperion Records Ltd. 1997
Web links
- Sheet music and audio files by John Sheppard (composer) in the International Music Score Library Project
- Further information at hoasm.org (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Sheppard, John |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English composer and organist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1515 |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 1558 |