Posts Tagged ‘ English choral music ’

John Sheppard's setting of the Lord's Prayer is far more elaborate than that of Robert Stone about which I wrote last week. It includes the doxology ('For thine is the kingdom …') found in some versions of the Greek original (Matthew 6:13 καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν, ἀλλὰ ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ. ὅτι σοῦ ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία καὶ ἡ δύναμις καὶ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας· ἀμήν) which was generally adopted in Protestant English translations of the bible. We don't know which translation Sheppard based and adapted his text from but his setting of it is one of the earliest examples of the progressive lightening of the texture by Sheppard and his fellows in the Chapel Royal. To an extent this was forced on them by the difficulties of achieving the clear diction demanded by the church authorities who wanted syllabic enunciation of the (new) vernacular texts. Sheppard's solution which he followed both in the Lord's prayer and in his Second Service was to write for a five-part ensemble treble, two altos, tenor, and bass, this arrangement was seized upon with relief by his fellow composers and became the standard for just under a century (1558 – 1646). Like Stone and Farmer Sheppard was breaking new musical ground, in the years that followed a lot of music was composed in the style of Sheppard's setting of the Lord's Prayer, but Sheppard's was the first. You can hear it below sung by the Choir of Christ Church Cathedral Oxford, conducted by Stephen Darlington. Enjoy :-).

markfromireland

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