The middle years of the 16th century was an interesting period for English church music.  There was no shortage of musical talent or sponsorship but the political and ecclesiastical landscape was pretty mixed as the pieces chosen for a new CD from the Choir of Trinity College, Melbourne reveal.

The first piece is a setting of the Lord’s Prayer in English by John Sheppard; Informator Choristarum at Magdalen College.  It’s fairly straightforward polyphony but the text is interesting.  It’s in English so it must post date Henry VIII, during whose reign the Mass was still sung in Latin, but the wording is slightly different to that of the first edition of The Book of Common Prayer of 1549 in that, among other minor variations, it concludes with “So be it” rather than “Amen” so we can probably date it to the first two years of Edward’s reign. Continue reading →