- John Merbecke
-
John Marbeck, Merbeck or Merbecke (c. 1510 – c. 1585) was an English theological writer and musician who produced a standard setting of the Anglican liturgy. He is also known today for his setting of the Mass, Missa Per arma justitiae.
Contents
Life
Probably a native of Beverley in Yorkshire, Merbecke appears to have been a boy chorister at St. George's Chapel, Windsor, and was employed as an organist there from about 1541. Two years later he was convicted with four others of heresy and sentenced to be burnt at the stake, but received a pardon owing to the intervention of Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester.[1] An English Concordance of the Bible which Merbecke had been preparing at the suggestion of Richard Turner, was however confiscated and destroyed. A later version of this work, the first of its kind in English, was published in 1550 with a dedication to Edward VI.
In the same year, Merbecke published his Booke of Common Praier Noted, intended to provide for musical uniformity in the use of the First Prayer Book of Edward VI. This set the liturgy to semi-rhythmical melodies partly adapted from Gregorian chant; it was rendered obsolete when the Prayer Book was revised in 1552. It was however rediscovered in the 19th century, and adaptations for the 1662 liturgy are still in use. Merbecke wrote several devotional and controversial works of a strongly Calvinistic character, and a number of his musical compositions are preserved in manuscript in the British Library, and at Oxford and Cambridge. He died, probably while still organist at Windsor, about 1585.
His complete Latin Church music has been recorded by The Cardinall's Musick under the direction of Andrew Carwood
His son, Roger Marbeck (1536–1605), was a noted classical scholar and physician.
Veneration
Merbecke is honored together with William Byrd and Thomas Tallis with a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA) on November 21.
See also
References
- ^ Ford, David Nash (2009). Berkshire in the Reign of Henry VIII. Wokingham: Nash Ford Publishing. http://www.nashfordpublishing.co.uk.
- Robin A. Leaver: "Marbeck, John", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 8 March 2005), http://www.grovemusic.com
- David Mateer, "Marbeck , John (c.1505-1585?)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004) http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/18026 (accessed 8 March 2005)
- Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.External links
- Free scores by John Merbecke in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
- Royal Berkshire History: The Windsor Martyrs
- Free scores by John Merbecke at the International Music Score Library Project
Discography
Categories:- 1510s births
- 1580s deaths
- English composers
- English classical organists
- People of the Tudor period
- People from Windsor, Berkshire
- English prisoners sentenced to death
- Recipients of English royal pardons
- Anglican saints
- 16th-century English people
- 16th-century musicians
- Anglicanism stubs
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
