John Merbecke: Difference between revisions

{{More footnotes needed|date=June 2010}}

'''John Marbeck''', '''Merbeck''' or '''Merbecke''' ({{circa|1510|1585}}) was an English choral composer and [[theology|theological]] writer and musician who produced a standardwhose [[Service (music)|musical setting]] of the early [[Anglican]] [[liturgy]] standardised the sung Anglican service until the late 20th century. He is also known today for his setting of the [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]], ''Missa Per arma justitiae''.

Probably a native of [[Beverley]] in Yorkshire, Merbecke appears to have been a [[boy soprano|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 [[Windsor Martyrs|four others]] of heresy and sentenced to be [[execution by burning|burnt at the stake]], but received a pardon owing to the intervention of [[Stephen Gardiner]], [[Bishop of Winchester]],<ref name=BRH8>{{cite book sfn|title=Berkshire in the Reign of Henry VIII |last=Ford |first=David Nash |year=2009 |publisherp=Nash Ford Publishing }}{{sfn|location=Wokingham Chisholm|url=http://www.nashfordpublishing.co.uk1911}}</ref> who said he was "but a musitian". An English [[Concordance of the Bible]] which Merbecke had been preparing at the suggestion of [[Richard Turner (reformer)|Richard Turner]], was however confiscated and destroyed.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} A later version of this work, the first of its kind in English, was published in 1550 with a dedication to [[Edward VI of England|Edward VI]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

In the same year, Merbecke published his ''Booke of Common Praier Noted'', intended to provide for musical uniformity in the use of the [[Book of Common Prayer (1549)|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. Merbecke wrote several devotional and controversial works of a strongly [[Calvinist]]ic 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.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

His son, [[Roger Marbeck]] (1536–1605), was a noted classical scholar and physician.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

In the first half of the 19th century, the [[Oxford Movement]] inspired renewed interest in liturgical music within the [[Church of England]]. [[John Jebb (priestcanon)|John Jebb]] first drew attention to Merbecke's Prayer Book settings in 1841. In 1843, William Dyce published [[plainsong]] music for all the Anglican services, which included nearly all of Merbecke's settings, adapted for the 1662 edition[[Book of theCommon Prayer (1662)|1662 ''Book of Common Prayer then in use'']]. During the latter half of the 19th century, many different editions of Merbecke's settings were published, especially for the [[Communion service]], with arrangements by noted musicians such as Sir [[John Stainer]], [[Charles Villiers Stanford]] and [[Basil Harwood]], Merbecke's Communion setting was very widely sung by choirs and congregations throughout the [[Anglican Communion]] until the 1662 Book of Common Prayer began to be supplanted by more modern liturgy in the late 20th century.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=ezVH2h6PKUcC&pg=PA42&lpg=PA42&dq=book+of+common+prayer+1662+Merbecke&source=bl&ots=NRzlmV7ZIB&sig=mf7_evEoKu0MyT-Ai6mesbwJTm0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=19lxUPS2MvKb1AXj44HADQ&ved=0CDQQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=book%20of%20common%20prayer%201662%20Merbecke&f=false Charles Hefling and Cynthia Shattuck (editors), ''The Oxford Guide to The Book of Common Prayer: A Worldwide Survey'', Oxford University Press 1988], {{ISBNsfn|978-0-19-529756-0Hefling|Shattuck|2006|p=42}} (pp.42–43)</ref> Parts of his service, notably the Nicene Creed, have been adapted to "modern" wording. His setting has also been adapted for the liturgy of many other denominations; the [[Roman Catholic Church]] Churchdrew usedon it for the new English -language riteform of the [[Mass of Paul VI]] following the [[Second Vatican Council]] of 1962–65.<ref>{{cite book sfn|last1= Kim |first1= Hyun-Ah 2016|yearp= 2008 |title= Humanism and the Reform of Sacred Music in Early Modern England: John Merbecke the Orator and The Booke of Common Praier Noted (1550) |url= https://search.library.brown.edu/catalog/b7725605 |format= |edition= Revised |location= Aldershot, England |publisher= Ashgate Publishing Ltd. |page= 5 |isbn= 978-0-7546-6268-6 }}</ref>

A voluntary choir for young men and women at [[Southwark Cathedral]] in London is named the '''Merbecke Choir''' in his honour,<ref>[http://merbecke.org.uk/ Merbecke Choir, Southwark Cathedral – Welcome]</ref> because Merbecke's heresy trial had been partly held at the church in 1543.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=NuI3zsk4k9cC&pg=PA362&lpg=PA362&dq=merbecke+monument&source=bl&ots=gmU2Sgq8bZ&sig=gqRrDLtILABLz0EVeWPG9a8eWdI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=luhxUN-pFOKp0QWI5IGICQ&ved=0CCIQ6AEwATgK#v=onepage&q=merbecke%20monument&f=false William Thompson (Canon), ''Southwark Cathedral: The History And Antiquities Of The Cathedral Church Of St Saviour'', (Reprouction) Nabu Press 2012], {{ISBNsfn|978Thompson|2005|pp=59-127752459860}} (pp.59–60)</ref>

==References=Sources===

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{{Portal|Christianity|Saints}}

** {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Merbeck, John|noicon=x|short=x|ref=none}}

** {{Cite DMMGrove1900|wstitle=Merbecke, John|noicon=x|short=x}}