Richard James Shephard

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

, DL,

FRSCM The Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) is a Christian music education organisation dedicated to the promotion of music in Christian worship, in particular the repertoire and traditions of Anglican church music, largely through publications, tr ...

(20 March 1949 – 20 February 2021) was a British composer, educator, and Director of Development and Chamberlain of

York Minster The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, North Yorkshire, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Archbis ...

. He was acclaimed as one of the most significant

composers A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Classical music, Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. E ...

church music Church music is Christian music written for performance in church, or any musical setting of ecclesiastical liturgy, or music set to words expressing propositions of a sacred nature, such as a hymn. History Early Christian music The onl ...

of his time."Richard Shephard"
Department of Music,

University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...

(23 December 2009). Retrieved on 21 June 2010.

Education and musical career

Shephard was a

chorister A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

Gloucester Cathedral Gloucester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity, in Gloucester, England, stands in the north of the city near the River Severn. It originated with the establishment of a minster dedicated to S ...

, where the organist was then the composer

Herbert Sumsion Herbert Whitton Sumsion (14 January 1899 – 11 August 1995) was an English musician who was organist of Gloucester Cathedral from 1928 to 1967. Through his leadership role with the Three Choirs Festival, Sumsion maintained close associations ...

before taking a degree at

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus"), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th century through to the early 19th century ...

. While at Cambridge, Shephard studied under composer

David Willcocks Sir David Valentine Willcocks, (30 December 1919 – 17 September 2015) was a British choral conductor, organist, composer and music administrator. He was particularly well known for his association with the Choir of King's College, Cambridge ...

Hugh Macdonald Hugh John Macdonald (born 31 January 1940 in Newbury, Berkshire) is an English musicologist chiefly known for his work within the music of the 19th century, especially in France. He has been general editor of the ''Hector Berlioz: New Edition of ...

, the great expert on Berlioz, and

Alan Ridout Alan Ridout (9 December 1934 – 19 March 1996) was a British composer and teacher. Life Born in West Wickham, Kent, England, Alan Ridout studied briefly at the Guildhall School of Music before commencing four years of study at the Royal C ...

. He started his musical career as a

lay vicar A lay clerk, also known as a lay vicar, song man or a vicar choral, is a professional adult singer in an Anglican cathedral and often Roman Catholic Cathedrals in the UK, or (occasionally) collegiate choir in Britain and Ireland. The vicars chora ...

Salisbury Cathedral Choir The Choir of Salisbury Cathedral exists to sing services in Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire, England, and has probably been in existence since the consecration of the cathedral in 1258. The choir comprises twenty boy choristers and twenty girl ch ...

, and at this time was Conductor of the ''Salisbury Grand Opera Group'', the ''Farrant Singers'', Guest Conductor of the ''Salisbury Orchestral Society'' and Musical Director of various productions at the

Salisbury Playhouse Salisbury Playhouse is a theatre in the English city of Salisbury, Wiltshire. It was built in 1976 and comprises the 517-seat Main House and the 149-seat Salberg, a rehearsal room and a community & education space. It is part of Arts Council En ...

. It was at this time when he was greatly influenced by Richard Seal and

Lionel Dakers Lionel Frederick Dakers (24 February 1924 – 10 March 2003) was an English cathedral organist who served in Ripon Cathedral and Exeter Cathedral. Background Dakers was born on 24 February 1924 in Rochester, Kent. He studied organ under Haro ...

, the former director of the

Royal School of Church Music The Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) is a Christian music education organisation dedicated to the promotion of music in Christian worship, in particular the repertoire and traditions of Anglican church music, largely through publications, tr ...

. An article published in 1987 in the ''

Musical Times ''The Musical Times'' is an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom and currently the oldest such journal still being published in the country. It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainzer ...

'' by Dakers, ''The RSCM: Past, Present...and Future'', states that "Our policy is to provide music of quality and interest for every contingency which can then be absorbed into a choir's working repertory. Aston, Oxley, How, Shephard, and Sumsion feature in our catalogue because they measure up to these needs, produce what we want and what we can consequently sell in large numbers." Years later, in 2000, Shephard and Dakers would both contribute to ''The IAO Millennium Book, Thirteen essays About the Organ'', a publication which comprises contemporary writings related to the organ and written by distinguished composers of the day. Shephard's article was entitled ''Composing for the Church today'', in which he discussed current demands on church music composers in the 20th century. His first opera, ''The Turncoat'' was composed for the

Salisbury International Arts Festival Salisbury International Arts Festival (founded in 1974) is an annual multi-arts festival that delivers over 150 arts events each year in and around the city of Salisbury, England. Events include concerts, comedy, poetry, dance, exhibitions, outdo ...

. As a composer, he wrote

operas Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libretti ...

operettas Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

musicals Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

orchestral An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...

works, music for television, and

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

but was perhaps best known for his choral works which are sung extensively around the world today, especially in churches and

cathedrals A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

in England and

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. His compositions are frequently broadcast in the United Kingdom."Other information—Chamberlain"
, Dean and Chapter of York Minster (2010). Retrieved on 21 June 2010. Shephard received commissions from numerous associations including the

Three Choirs Festival 200px, Worcester cathedral 200px, Gloucester cathedral The Three Choirs Festival is a music festival held annually at the end of July, rotating among the cathedrals of the Three Counties (Hereford, Gloucester and Worcester) and originally featu ...

, the

Southern Cathedrals Festival The Southern Cathedrals Festival (known for short as "SCF") is a 5-day music festival held in rotation among the cathedrals of Chichester, Winchester and Salisbury in England, in the penultimate week of July. The festival was restored in 1960 aft ...

Woodard Schools Woodard Schools is a group of Anglican schools (both primary and secondary) affiliated to the Woodard Corporation (formerly the Society of St Nicolas) which has its origin in the work of Nathaniel Woodard, a Church of England priest in the Anglo- ...

, the

Goldsmiths' Company The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, commonly known as the Goldsmiths' Company and formally titled The Wardens and Commonalty of the Mystery of Goldsmiths of the City of London, is one of the Great Twelve Livery Companies of the City of Londo ...

and the Ryedale Festival. He was a

Visiting Fellow In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

's music department and a Visiting Professor in the Music department of the

University of the South The University of the South, familiarly known as Sewanee (), is a private Episcopal liberal arts college in Sewanee, Tennessee. It is owned by 28 southern dioceses of the Episcopal Church, and its School of Theology is an official seminary of ...

(Sewanee); he has received

honorary doctorates An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

from both. For his "outstanding contribution to church music" he was awarded a

Lambeth degree A Lambeth degree is an academic degree conferred by the Archbishop of Canterbury under the authority of the Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533 (25 Hen VIII c 21) (Eng) as successor of the papal legate in England. The degrees conferred most commonl ...

in music, and, in 2009, was granted

Freedom of the City The Freedom of the City (or Borough in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. Arising from the medieval practice of granting respected ...

of York. Recently, he has had a place on the "Archbishop's Commission on Church Music" and on the "Church Music Commission on Cathedrals". Shephard was also a Fellow of the

, the highest honour which the RSCM offer. In November 2009, Shephard was commissioned to write a piece for the commemoration of

Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer. Purcell's style of Baroque music was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Generally considered among the greatest E ...

's three hundred and fiftieth birthday by The National Centre of Early Music, ''Ode on the 350th Birthday of Mr Henry Purcell''. The piece was performed in the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

by five hundred school children who make up the

Scunthorpe Co-operative Junior Choir Scunthorpe Co-operative Junior Choir (SCJC) is a choir from Scunthorpe, England, conducted by Daniel Fields. Formed almost 100 year ago, the choir is supported by the Co-operative Group. The membership of approximately 200 children is divided int ...

which won the BBC Radio 3 Choir of the Year in 2008.

Howard Goodall Howard Lindsay Goodall (; born 26 May 1958) is an English composer of musicals, choral music and music for television. He also presents music-based programmes for television and radio, for which he has won many awards. In May 2008, he was na ...

co-hosted the event. In 1999 Shephard received a commission to write for the York Mystery Plays Millennium and in 2008 he coauthored ''York Minster: A Living Legacy'' with the

Dean of York Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

, Keith Jones, and Louise Ann Hampson.

Career in education

As well as Shephard's prolific musical career, he also had a distinguished career in education. He became Head of Music at Godolphin School at the early age of 24, and then Deputy Head at Salisbury Cathedral School. In 1985, he moved to

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, becoming headmaster of York Minster School and later became Chamberlain of

. He remained headmaster of the school until 2004 when he stepped down, and was then Director of Development at York Minster, co-ordinating fundraising, and raising more than £20 million to restore the Great East Window. He was Chamberlain, in this role he served as

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. In formal Jewish worship, a cantor is a person who sings solo verses or passages to which the choir or congregation responds. In Judaism, a cantor sings and lead ...

evensong Evensong is a church service traditionally held near sunset focused on singing psalms and other biblical canticles. In origin, it is identical to the canonical hour of vespers. Old English speakers translated the Latin word as , which became ...

and

mattins The Daily Office in Anglican churches focuses the traditional canonical hours on daily services of Morning Prayer (also called Matins or Mattins, especially when chanted) and Evening Prayer (called Evensong, especially when celebrated chorally) ...

, leading the responses. He was appointed

in the 2012 Queen's Birthday Honours list for his services to music and education. In the same year he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of North Yorkshire. He died on 20 February 2021 at the age of 71, one month short of his 72nd birthday.Composer and ex-Minster School head Richard Shephard MBE has died
/ref>

Selected works

Choral

Eucharistic settings: *The Addington Service *The Wiltshire Service *Gloucester Cathedral *Tisbury Service *The Woodard Service *The St Matthew's Service (for

St Matthew's Church, Northampton St Matthew's Church, Northampton is a Church of England parish church in Northampton, within the Diocese of Peterborough. The church is a Grade II* listed building. It was erected (1891–4) in memory of brewer and MP, Pickering Phipps, bes ...

) Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis, for: *Salisbury Cathedral *Hereford Cathedral *Liverpool Cathedral *Lionel Dakers in memoriam *Llandaff Cathedral *Gloucester Cathedral Anthems *''Let us now praise famous men'' *''The old order changeth'' *''Ye choirs of new Jerusalem'' *''The strife is o’er'' *''A Vision of Wheels'' *''O for a thousand tongues'' *''Last verses'' *''Never weather beaten sail'' *''Jesu dulcis memoria'' *''And didst thou travel light'' *''The birds'' *''Prayer for a new mother'' *''Let him who seeks'' *''We give immortal praise'' *''And when the builders'' *''Open for me the gates of righteousness'' *''Lord I have loved the habitation of thy house'' *''Adam lay y-bounden'' *''Who shall ascend'' *''Te Deum'' *''Out of the stillness'' *''The Secret of Christ'' *''Crossing the bar'' *''Jubilate Deo'' (for the celebrations on the 450th anniversary of the founding of

Christ College, Brecon Christ College, Brecon, is a co-educational, boarding and day independent school, located in the cathedral and market town of Brecon in mid-Wales. It currently caters for pupils aged 7–18 years. History Christ College was founded by Roya ...

)

Opera

*''The Turncoat'' *''The Dove and the Eagle'' *''Caedmon'' *''Good King Wenceslas'' *''The Shepherds' Play'' *''St Nicholas''

Musicals

*''All for Alice'' *''The Phantom Tollbooth'' *''Wind in the Willows'' *''Pride and Prejudice'' *''Solemn Parody'' *''Ernest'' *''A Christmas Carol'' *''Eek!'' *''Emil and the Detectives''

Orchestral

*''Overture – Mayday'' *''The Musicians of Bremen'' *''Six Shakespeare Songs'' *''Guildhall March''

Oratorio

*''Jonah'' *''Requiem'' *''St Luke Passion'' *''There Was Such Beauty'' (1991, Gloucester Cathedral) *''Christmas cantata'' *''Purcell birthday cantata'' (for the Albert Hall Schools Prom 2009)

References

External links

* http://www.sjmp.com (St. James Music Press) * https://www.rscmshop.com/rscm-composers/richard-shephard.html (The Royal School of Church Music) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shephard, Richard 1949 births 2021 deaths Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge British composers Deputy Lieutenants of North Yorkshire Heads of schools in England Members of the Order of the British Empire Place of birth missing Place of death missing