Robert Parsons (ca. 1535 – January 1571/2) was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
composer of the
Tudor period
The Tudor period occurred between 1485 and 1603 in England and Wales and includes the Elizabethan period during the reign of Elizabeth I until 1603. The Tudor period coincides with the dynasty of the House of Tudor in England that began wit ...
who was active during the reigns of
King Edward VI
Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...
,
Queen Mary I
Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. Sh ...
and
Queen Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
El ...
. He is noted for his compositions of
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 on ...
.
Early life
Parsons was born around 1530–35, but no details of his birth survive and there is no evidence connecting him with either Robert Parsons (1596-1676), a
vicar choral
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 ...
at Exeter Cathedral, or his contemporary, the composer
William Parsons of
Wells. Although little is known about his life, it is likely that in his youth he was a choir boy, as until 1561 he was an assistant to
Richard Bower,
Master of the Children
Master of the Children is a title awarded to an adult musician who is put in charge of the musical training, and in some cases the general education (which sometimes gets offered as a priceless perk to recruit the best singers) of choir boy (or si ...
of the
Chapel Royal.
Career and influence
Parsons was composing during a period of major religious upheaval in England. After the death of
Henry VIII in 1547, the new king, Edward VI, advanced the
Reformation in England
The English Reformation took place in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church. These events were part of the wider European Protestant Reformation, a religious and po ...
, introducing major changes to the
liturgy of the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...
. In 1549,
Thomas Cranmer
Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build the case for the annulment of Henry ...
's new
Book of Common Prayer
The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...
swept away the old
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
-language liturgy and replaced it with prayers in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
. This brand new liturgy suddenly demanded that new music be written in English for the church, and musicians of the
Chapel Royal such as
Thomas Tallis
Thomas Tallis (23 November 1585; also Tallys or Talles) was an English composer of High Renaissance music. His compositions are primarily vocal, and he occupies a primary place in anthologies of English choral music. Tallis is considered one ...
,
John Sheppard, and Parsons were called upon to demonstrate that the new
Protestantism
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
was no less splendid than the old Catholic religion.
During the reign of Mary Tudor (1553–1558), a revival of Catholic practice encouraged a return to Latin music, but after
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...
ascended to the throne of England in 1558, vernacular English liturgy and music came back into favour.
Parsons was appointed Gentleman of the Chapel Royal on 17 October 1563. His work consisted of a number of sacred and secular vocal compositions. His earliest known composition is his ''First Service'', a setting of text from the
1549 Prayer Book of King Edward VI and his largest surviving work. Its existence suggests that Parsons was actively composing from at least the early 1550s. This work contained settings of the
canticles
A canticle (from the Latin ''canticulum'', a diminutive of ''canticum'', "song") is a hymn, psalm or other Christian song of praise with lyrics usually taken from biblical or holy texts. Canticles are used in Christian liturgy.
Catholic Church
...
for the new services of
Morning
Morning is the period from sunrise to noon. There are no exact times for when morning begins (also true of evening and night) because it can vary according to one's lifestyle and the hours of daylight at each time of year. However, morning s ...
(
Venite,
Te Deum
The "Te Deum" (, ; from its incipit, , ) is a Latin Christian hymn traditionally ascribed to AD 387 authorship, but with antecedents that place it much earlier. It is central to the Ambrosian hymnal, which spread throughout the Latin Ch ...
,
Benedictus
Benedictus may refer to:
Music
* Benedictus (Song of Zechariah), ''Benedictus'' (''Song of Zechariah''), the canticle sung at Lauds, also called the Canticle of Zachary
* The second part of the Sanctus, part of the Eucharistic prayer
* Benedictus ...
) and
Evening Prayer (
Magnificat
The Magnificat (Latin for " y soulmagnifies he Lord) is a canticle, also known as the Song of Mary, the Canticle of Mary and, in the Byzantine tradition, the Ode of the Theotokos (). It is traditionally incorporated into the liturgical servic ...
and
Nunc Dimittis
The Nunc dimittis (), also known as the Song of Simeon or the Canticle of Simeon, is a canticle taken from the second chapter of the Gospel of Luke, verses 29 through 32. Its Latin name comes from its incipit, the opening words, of the Vulgate ...
), as well as a setting of the
Credo
In Christian liturgy, the credo (; Latin for "I believe") is the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed – or its shorter version, the Apostles' Creed – in the Mass, either as a prayer, a spoken text, or sung as Gregorian chant or other musical sett ...
and short
Responses to the
Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ ...
for the
Holy Communion service.
Parsons is especially noted for his choral
motets, and he is recognised as a master of
polyphonic writing for choirs with the skilled use of
cantus firmus
In music, a ''cantus firmus'' ("fixed melody") is a pre-existing melody forming the basis of a polyphonic composition.
The plural of this Latin term is , although the corrupt form ''canti firmi'' (resulting from the grammatically incorrect tre ...
within his works.
Notable works include his setting of ''
Ave Maria
The Hail Mary ( la, Ave Maria) is a traditional Christian prayer addressing Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based on two biblical passages featured in the Gospel of Luke: the Angel Gabriel's visit to Mary (the Annunciation) and Mary's ...
'', the anthem ''Deliver me from mine enemies'',
and some instrumental pieces. Eight of these works were included in the music manuscript known as the
Dow Partbooks, and several of his vocal works also feature in the
Drexel and
Peterhouse partbooks. Parsons was the first English composer to write a setting of the Office for the Dead, and he was possibly influenced by the work of
Alfonso Ferrabosco, an Italian composer who was active in England at the time.
Parsons worked with other composers of his day and it is thought that he collaborated with
Richard Farrant on dramatic productions during the early 1560s.
Similarities have been demonstrated between John Sheppard's 1558 ''Second Service'' and Parsons's ''First Service'', suggesting that Parsons was greatly influenced by Sheppard's compositional style.
Parsons is also closely connected with the composer
William Byrd
William Byrd (; 4 July 1623) was an English composer of late Renaissance music. Considered among the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he had a profound influence on composers both from his native England and those on the continent. He ...
. Parsons's influences can be traced in Byrd's instrumental works and choral
motets.
The two musicians lived and worked in the county of
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...
; in 1567, Parsons was granted a Crown lease on a
rectory at
Stainton in Lincolnshire, from
Hainton, where Byrd resided,
and it is thought that Parsons may have taught Byrd at
Lincoln Cathedral.
Works
English works
*''The First Service'' (also known as ''The Great Service'')
*''The Second 'Excellent' Service for Means''
(evening canticles to the Second Service composed by
William Mundy in tribute to Parsons)
;English anthems:
*''Deliver me from mine enemies''
*''Holy Lord God Almighty''
;Consort songs:
*''Abradad: Alas you salt sea gods''
*''Enforced by Love and Fear''
*''No grief is like to mine''
*''Pour down you powers divine''
Latin works
* ''Ave Maria''
* ''Credo quod redemptor meus vivit''
* ''Domine, quis habitabit''
* ''Iam Christus astra ascenderat''
* ''In manus tuas''
* ''Retribue servo tuo''
* ''Libera me, Domine, de morte aeterna''
* ''Magnificat''
* ''O bone Jesu''
* ''Peccantem me quotidie''
Death and legacy
Parsons is believed to have died in January 1571/2, when he fell into the then swollen
River Trent
The Trent is the third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands. The river is known for dramatic flooding after storms and ...
at
Newark-on-Trent
Newark-on-Trent or Newark () is a market town and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district in Nottinghamshire, England. It is on the River Trent, and was historically a major inland port. The A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road bypasses th ...
in Nottinghamshire and drowned.
[ His sudden death was marked with great sadness as he had gained considerable acclaim as a composer. The eulogy at his funeral (published in the ''Dow Partbook'') lamented the fact that his life had been cut short at a young age:]
There is no record of Parsons's body ever having been retrieved from the river following his death. His son, John Parsons (1563–1623), was a minor composer who served as organist of Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...
(1621–23). William Byrd
William Byrd (; 4 July 1623) was an English composer of late Renaissance music. Considered among the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he had a profound influence on composers both from his native England and those on the continent. He ...
succeeded Parsons as Gentleman of the Chapel Royal.
Today, Parsons's surviving compositions form part of the repertoire of Anglican church music
Anglican church music is music that is written for Christian worship in Anglican religious services, forming part of the liturgy. It mostly consists of pieces written to be sung by a church choir, which may sing '' a cappella'' or accompanie ...
. His ''Ave Maria'' was included in the 1978 publication, the '' Oxford Book of Tudor Anthems''.
References
The Parsons Affayre – Recording of all the Latin motets of Robert Parsons
Naxos Biographies – Robert Parsons
See also
*Tudor music
Early music of Britain and Ireland, from the earliest recorded times until the beginnings of the Baroque in the 17th century, was a diverse and rich culture, including sacred and secular music and ranging from the popular to the elite. Each of the ...
*List of Anglican church composers
Composers who have made significant contributions to the repertory of Anglican church music.
A
* Malcolm Archer
* Thomas Armstrong
* Thomas Attwood
*Richard Ayleward
B
* Edgar Bainton
*Edward Bairstow
*John Barnard
*Joseph Barnby
* Adrian Batt ...
External links
*
*
* http://www.geocities.jp/lyrischesuite/Parsons.htm
*: a 1973 performance by Guildford Cathedral Choir, directed by Barry Rose
Barry Michael Rose OBE FRAM FRSCM HonFRCO (born 24 May 1934) is a choir trainer and organist. He is best known for founding the choir and the pattern of daily sung worship at the new Guildford Cathedral in 1961, as well as directing the music a ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parsons, Robert
English classical composers
Renaissance composers
1530s births
1572 deaths
People of the Elizabethan era
Gentlemen of the Chapel Royal
Musicians from Exeter
Accidental deaths in England
Deaths by drowning in the United Kingdom
16th-century English composers
English male classical composers