# John Sheppard (1515 - 1558)



## Taggart

Although Sheppard was as prolific as (William) Byrd and worked with Byrd's father' Thomas, very little is known about him.

He claims to hae been composing music in 1534, hence the supposed dtae of his birth. He worked as both chorister and choirmaster at Magdalen College, Oxford and became a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal. During an epidemic in late 1558, he made a will. He was to be given new royal livery for the funeral of Queen Mary and the coronation of Elizabeth I, but died a mere month after Elizabeth's accession. He was, however, still on the books of the Chapel Royal in 1559 and some date his death as late as 1563.

John Sheppard must have been one of the most important English composers of his generation: no less a musician than Thomas Morley praised him fully 40 years after his death. Sheppard was almost certainly considerably younger than Tallis or Tye, because unlike them he was not yet represented in the Peterhouse partbooks of c. 1540-7. The survival of his music is owed greatly to the five surviving Baldwin partbooks at Christ Church, Oxford (GB-Och Mus. 979-83), copied in 1575

He wrote large number of hymns and Office responds, and through them, we can see the changes of taste in music for the Office, from the ornate Latin works when England was still Catholic, the ornamental form during Mary’s reign, and simple syllabic themes from Edward VI and Elizabeth I’s reigns.

Sheppard’s musical techniques were often conservative (and considered old fashioned in his lifetime) but his music is really quite rich. The vocal textures are fairly uniform, without much coloration by imitation or repetition, but he combines virtuoso scoring (reminiscent of the Eton Choirbook period) with chordal constructions and masterly control of the play between harmony and rhythm.


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## Taggart




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## Guest

I cherish the Tallis Scholars recording wich started with Media Vita.I have also the four recordings with the Sixteen.I am very pleased to see this thread,John Sheppard is close to my heart and I have to look to more recent recordings as Stile Antico.:angel:


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## jegreenwood

I have this.


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## Josquin13

The late English soprano Tessa Bonner, who sadly passed away of cancer several years ago, once said that she wished Sheppard's Media Vita to be the music played at her funeral. I don't know if she ever got her wish, but it was Bonner that sang the upper line on the Tallis Scholars' recording, so beautifully. Here is one instance where I didn't mind Peter Phillips transposing the music up in order to accommodate his high sopranos, in what has become more or less the Tallis Scholars' trademark sound. It works with Sheppard's Media Vita, as the treble line sounds even more ethereal and soaring. I'm not always a fan of the Tallis Scholars, but, IMO, they are often at their best in the music of English composers (Sheppard, Tallis, Mundy, etc.)

Yet, when Sheppard's Media Vita isn't transposed up, it arguably becomes more interesting music. For example, it doesn't sound like Owen Rees & his vocal ensemble Contrapunctus have transposed the music up on their recent recording, at least not to the same extent as Phillips. Here's a You Tube link to Rees' recording of Media Vita (& other music from the Baldwin partbooks):






and for the sake of comparison, here's the Tallis Scholars (partially):






Out of curiosity, I'm wondering, which do people prefer?

Sheppard's Missa Cantate should also be mentioned. Like Media Vita, it's another masterpiece. I remain partial to my first recording of this music, from the pioneering David Wulfstan and The Clerkes of Oxenford--another choir leader who was fond of transposing the music up (& often way up), though it has more recently been recorded by The Sixteen, and by the Gabrieli Choir (in a reconstruction of Sheppard's lengthy mass program from 1540).

Here are The Clerkes of Oxenford singing the Agnus Dei from Sheppard's Missa Cantate (you can find the other mass movements on You Tube, as well):






https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00866YO5W/ref=dm_ws_sp_ps_dp
https://www.amazon.com/Sheppard-Mis...3&sr=1-1&keywords=john+sheppard+missa+cantate


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## Mandryka

Do you think that when it's transposed up the lower voices appear less muddy? How is it more interesting music if you don't transpose it up?


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## Josquin13

No, I don't think they're less muddy--if anything the lower parts are a little more defined on Rees' recording, at least to my ears (though I wouldn't say the Tallis Scholars are muddy either). There seems to be a slightly more dramatic or weightier contrast between the light and dark of Rees' upper and lower voices, or at least a wider scale of contrasting voices, when the lower and middle voices are deeper. The music sounds more solemn & serious to me from the outset. On the other hand, when the lower and middle parts are more uniformly lifted higher, the treble/soprano parts naturally soar even higher, and yes, it creates a more ethereal effect, but the lower and middle parts (& upper voices too) don't seem quite as emotionally impactful to me, or as immediately gripping. There's less contrast. The music comes off as a bit more ethereal than it is weighty, dark, and serious; granted, the differences are quite subtle between these two recordings, at least in comparison to other cases. (Some people find the Tallis Scholars bland for this reason--though I don't think their criticism holds true for this recording.)

I find the same thing happens in paintings. If a painter's tonal scale is in a high key, then there's going to be very little sense of chiaroscuro, or strong dramatic contrasts of light and dark, and the painting will be less immediately gripping and dramatic, tonally, because its impact will be more uniformly light throughout. I'm thinking of the light & dark tonal contrasts in Caravaggio's paintings, their brilliant chiaroscuro, versus the impressionists, who paint light, but rarely ever use the full tonal scale (at least not as it appears in nature). With Caravaggio, the rich chiaroscuro effects make his paintings more dramatic, and maybe darker in mood, or at least weightier in content and subject matter.

So I guess we have to ask ourselves which approach is more appropriate to the meaning of the words of Media Vita? To me, the prayer sounds quite serious and weighty, a kind of crying out in the dark. It's a prayer asking to be shown mercy & forgiveness for our sins, so that we don't spend the rest of eternity in death. That's pretty heavy subject matter, so I doubt Sheppard would want to see his music presented with lesser light and dark contrasts.

"In the midst of life we are in death
of whom may we seek for succour,
but of thee, O Lord,
who for our sins
art justly displeased?

Yet, O Lord God most holy,
O Lord most mighty,
O holy and most merciful Saviour,
deliver us not into the bitter pains of eternal death." 

But, at the same time, the soaring soprano line in the Tallis performance is very beautiful (& in truth, I'm glad to have both recordings).


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## JSBach85

jegreenwood said:


> I have this.
> 
> View attachment 100716


John Sheppard is among my favourite Renaissance composers. In addition to this recording, I also have this one by The Sixteen:










I am not a big fan of The Tallis Scholars but I started listening Renaissance Polyphony: Palestrina and Desprez with them (I still remember the first time I listened to their recording Missa Pange Lingua) and I generally accept a mix choir: male/female for english renaissance. However, It's been a long time I am interested in this recording that uses male/kids choir:










I really like McCreesh reconstructions and He did an outstanding job with our Renaissance spanish composers Tomás Luis de Victoria and Cristobal de Morales. I am not always happy with current choirs that uses kids for upper voices but this is an exception:

John Sheppard - Missa Cantate - Gloria. Gabrieli Consort. Paul McCreesh.





I just ordered it, how I like Renaissance Polyphony! :angel:


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