Missa Cantate

John Sheppard 1520?-1560?

John Sheppard was, along with Thomas Tallis, the greatest English composer whose career spanned the Reformation of the mid-16th century. But unlike his better-known contemporary, Sheppard wrote relatively little music for the new English order of service. Through his English anthems and service music Tallis's name has lived on through the centuries, and curiosity fuelled by these works led to a remarkable revival of interest in his Latin music - almost all of which had vanished from the repertory - in the early part of this century. Sheppard, on the other hand, whose music was almost entirely for the Latin rite, vanished totally from the repertory until the pioneering work of David Wulstan in the 1960s. Since then Sheppard has gradually gained parity with not just Tallis, but also with the leading continental composers of the time.

The exuberant Cantate Mass is set for six voices. Although it may or may not be an early work, its variety of full and reduced voice textures certainly place it firmly in the tradition of the Eton Choirbook composers of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries.

This performance was part of the New Zealand 1992 International Festival of the Arts

Download front of poster for this performance (JPEG image, 176 Kb)
Download reverse of poster for this performance (JPEG image, 199 Kb)
Download programme notes and texts & translations for this performance (Microsoft Word document, 38 Kb)
DOwnload pre-concert talk for this performance (Microsoft Word document, 36 Kb)

Programme

    Introit: Puer natus est nobis: plainsong
    Kyrie: troped with Deus Creator Omnium: plainsong
    Gloria: Missa Cantate: John Sheppard
    Collect: Concede quaesumus omnipotens Deus: chant
    Lesson: chant
    Epistle: chant
    Gradual: Viderunt omnes: plainsong
    Sequence: Celeste organum hodie sonuit in terra: plainsong
    Gospel: chant
    Credo: Missa Cantate: Sheppard
    Offertorio: Tui sunt coeli et tua est terra: plainsong
    Sursum Corda: chant
    Sanctus / Osanna I / Benedictus / Osanna II: Missa Cantate: Sheppard
    Pater Noster: chant
    Agnus Dei: Missa Cantate: Sheppard
    Communio: Viderunt omnes: plainsong
    Collect: Presta quaesumus omnipotens Deus: chant
    Ite, missa est: plainsong

8pm*, Sunday 4 March 1992
Wellington Cathedral of St Paul
Molesworth Street, Wellington
* pre-concert talk at 7.30pm
$18 / $16 / $14

dir. Simon Ravens

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