John Merbecke
John Marbeck, Merbeck or Merbecke (c. 1510) was an English choral composer and theological writer whose 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, Missa Per arma justitiae.
Also recorded as John Marbeck · John Merbeck
John Merbecke
Richard Grafton · IMSLP.org · Public domain
- Name
- John Merbecke
- Born
- c. 1515
- Birthplace
- Probably Beverley, England
- Died
- c. 1585
- Place of death
- Windsor, England
- Nationality
- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
- Occupation
- composer · theologian
- Languages
- English
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In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — John Merbecke • Born — c. 1515 • Birthplace — Probably Beverley, England • Died — c. 1585 • Place of death — Windsor, England
Life
Life
Probably a native of Beverley in Yorkshire, Merbecke appears to have been a 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 four others of heresy and sentenced to be burnt at the stake, but received a pardon owing to the intervention of Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, who said he was "but a musitian". An English Concordance of the Bible which Merbecke had been preparing at the suggestion of Richard Turner, was however confiscated and destroyed. A later version of this work, the first of its kind in English, was published in 1550 with a dedication to King Edward VI. In the same year, Merbecke published his Booke of Common Praier Noted, intended to provide for musical uniformity in the use of the 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, 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. His son, Roger Marbeck (1536–1605), was a noted classical scholar and physician.
Works
Works
A list of selected works by Merbecke follows: *
Legacy
In the first half of the 19th century, the Oxford Movement inspired renewed interest in liturgical music within the Church of England. 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 Book of Common Prayer. 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. 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 Catholic Church drew on it for the new English-language form of the Mass of Paul VI following the Second Vatican Council of 1962–65. The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham uses Merbecke's settings for its own Divine Worship rite. A voluntary choir for young men and women at Southwark Cathedral in London is named the Merbecke Choir in his honour, because Merbecke's heresy trial had been partly held at the church in 1543.
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article John Merbecke, revision 1366991213 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.HOASM: John Merbecke. hoasm.org.
- 2.Ordinariate launches its new liturgy. www.churchtimes.co.uk.
- 3.Merbecke Choir, Southwark Cathedral – Welcome
Bibliography printed in the source article · 7
- 18. 148.
- Ford, David Nash. Berkshire in the Reign of Henry VIII. Nash Ford Publishing. 2009.
- Hefling. The Oxford Guide to The Book of Common Prayer: A Worldwide Survey. Oxford University Press. 2006. 978-0-19-972389-8.
- Kim, Hyun-Ah. Humanism and the Reform of Sacred Music in Early Modern England: John Merbecke the Orator and The Booke of Common Praier Noted (1550). Routledge. 2016. 978-1-317-11959-3.
- Leaver, Robin A. Marbeck, John. 2001.
- Mateer, David. Marbeck, John (c.1505–1585?). 23 September 2004.
- Thompson, William. Southwark Cathedral the History and Antiquities of the Cathedral Church of St. Savior. Kessinger Publishing. 2005. 978-1-4179-5528-2.
References
Citations
References
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Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 29 August 2026.
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