Robert Parsons (composer)
| Robert Parsons | |
|---|---|
| Born | ca. 1535 Exeter, Devon |
| Died | ca. 1572 (aged 36–37) Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire |
| Cause of death | Drowning |
| Nationality | English |
| Occupation | Composer |
| Known for | Anglican church music |
| Notable work | The First Service; Ave Maria; In manus tuas |
Robert Parsons (ca. 1535 – January 1571/2) was an English composer of the Tudor period who was active during the reigns of King Edward VI, Queen Mary I and Queen Elizabeth I. He is noted for his compositions of church music.
Parsons was born around 1530-35 in Exeter, Devon. Although little is known about the life of Robert Parsons, 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 Choristers of the Chapel Royal.
Robert 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, introducing major changes to the liturgy of the Church of England. In 1549, Thomas Cranmer’s new Book of Common Prayer swept away the old Latin liturgy and replaced it with prayers in English. This brand new liturgy suddenly demanded that new music should be written for the church in English, and musicians of the Chapel Royal such as Thomas Tallis, John Sheppard, and Robert Parsons were called upon to demonstrate that the new Protestantism was no less splendid that 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 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, and its existence suggests that Parsons was actively composing from at least the early 1550s. This work contained settings of the canticles for the new services of Morning (Venite, Te Deum, Benedictus) and Evening Prayer (Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis), as well as a setting of the Credo and short Responses to the Ten Commandments for the Holy Communion service.
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