of Cathedral Music we possess. The graceful contour of its Subjects, the purity of the Harmony produced by their mutual involutions, and, above all, the beauty of its expression, entitle it, not only to the first place among the Compositions of its own period, but to a very high one as compared with those of the still more brilliant epoch which was to follow. That the writer of such an Anthem as this should have been an idle man is impossible. He must have produced a host of other treasures. Yet, it is by this alone that he is known to us; and it is much to be feared that he will nevermore be represented by another work of equal magnitude, though it would be well worth while to collect together the few fragments of his writings which are still preserved in MS.[1]
Equally scarce are the works of Richard Edwardes, known chiefly by one of the loveliest Madrigals that ever was written—'In going to my naked bedde.' We have already had occasion to call attention to the beauties of this delightful work,[2] which rivals—we might almost say surpasses—the finest Flemish and Italian Madrigals of the Period, and was certainly never excelled, before the time of Palestrina or Luca Marenzio. For this, also, we have to thank the research and discrimination of Hawkins, who gives it in his fifth volume: but it has since been reprinted, many times; and it is not likely that it will ever again be forgotten.
Johnson was one of the most learned Contrapuntists of the period, and excelled almost all his contemporaries in the art of writing Imitations upon a Canto fermo. Of the writings of Taverner and Parsons, good specimens will be found in the Psalters of Este and Ravenscroft, as well as in the Histories of Burney and Hawkins; while many more remain in MS. Among the latter, a Madrigal for five Voices, by Parsons—'Enforced by love and feare'—preserved in the Library of Christ Church, Oxford, is particularly interesting, as establishing the writer's title to an honourable place among the leaders of a School of Sæcular Music with which his name is not generally associated.
A few of Shepherde's Compositions may be found in a work entitled 'Mornyng and Evenyng Prayer and Communion,' London, 1565. He is also well represented in the Christchurch Library, in a series of MS. Compositions of a very high order of merit. Most of them are Motets, with Latin words; but a few are English Anthems—possibly, adaptations—from one of which we have selected the following example.
Since the restoration of Anglican Plain Chaunt, by the Rev. T. Helmore, Marbeck's name has been a 'household word' among English Churchmen; but only in connection with his strictly unisonous 'Booke of Common Praier noted.' No one seems to know that he was not only a distinguished Contrapuntist, but also one of the most expressive Composers of the English School. The very few specimens of his style which we possess are of no common order of merit. The example selected is from a MS. Mass, 'Missa,
- ↑ A Motet—Vesti precincti—for five Voices has been found in a set of 16th-century Part-Books, at Christ Church, Oxford; but, unhappily, the Tenor volume is missing.
- ↑ See vol. ii, p. 192.
