Osbert Parsley
Thecommemorative plaque to Parsley inNorwich Cathedral
Born	1510/1511
Died	1585 (aged around 74) Norwich, England
Occupations	Composer "singing man" (chorister)
Era	Renaissance

Osbert Parsley^{[note 1]} (1510/1511 – 1585) was an EnglishRenaissance composer andchorister. Few details of his life are known, but he evidently married in 1558, and lived for a period in the parish ofSt Saviour's Church, Norwich. Aboy chorister atNorwich Cathedral, Parsley worked there throughout his musical career.^[4] He was first mentioned as alay clerk, was appointed a "singing man" inc. 1534, and was probably the cathedral's unofficial organist for half a century. His career spanned the reigns ofHenry VIII and all three of his children. After theReformation of 1534, the lives of English church musicians changed according to the official policy of each monarch.

Parsley wrote mainly church music for both theLatin and English rites, as well as instrumental music. His Latin settings are considered to be more fluent and attractive-sounding than those he wrote to be sung in English. His longest composition,Conserva me, domine, has a graceful polyphonic style. Parsley's otherliturgical works includeDaily Offices (two morning services and an evening service), and the five-partLamentations (notable for the difficulty in singing the top notes of the highest part). His instrumental music, nearly all forviols, including sixconsort pieces, was written in a style that combines both his Latin and English vocal styles. Some of his incomplete instrumental music has survived.

Parsley died inNorwich in 1585 and was buried in Norwich Cathedral, where there is acommemorative plaque, a mark of the respect in which he was held by those who knew him, and a unique honour for a chorister at the cathedral. The plaque is inscribed with a poem praising his character and musicianship. Parsley's music is occasionally heard in church services and concerts. Compositions that have been recorded include hisLamentations andSpes Nostra.

Osbert Parsley was born in 1510 or 1511;^{[note 2]} the identity of his parents and place of birth are unknown.^[6] Like many of hiscontemporary English composers, he began his musical career as achoirboy.^[7] During the time Parsley was a chorister, Edmund Inglott and his sonWilliam Inglott were in turn Master of the Choristers; the works written by William are found in theFitzwilliam Virginal Book.^[8]

Parsley became a "singing man"c.1534, a post he retained for 50 years.[9] The historian Noel Boston has conjectured that Parsley was either hired by the cathedralmonks to assist them as alayman chorister, or was possibly anovice monk before his career as a monk was stopped short by theEnglish Reformation, and he then was employed as a singing man.^[10] Parsley was first listed in Norwich Cathedral's extant accounts for 1538–1540, where he was named as alay clerk, and he continued to be mentioned in the cathedral's records throughout his life.^{[6][note 3]} It is likely that he acted as the cathedral's unofficial organist from 1535 until his death in 1585.^[8]

In 1558 Parsley was married to one Rose and bought a house and premises in the parish ofSt Saviour's Church, Norwich, from John Hering and his wife, Helen. Parsley owned the house until 1583.^[6] Details of Parsley's life were first published in Henry Davey'sHistory of English Music, first published in 1895, when he was described as a "lesser composer" fromNorwich Cathedral whose works existed in manuscript form.^[3] From hiswill it is known that there were seven surviving children from the marriage: Henry, Edmund, John, Joan, Elizabeth, Dorothy, and Anne.^[12]

Composers during theTudor period were honoured by being awarded an academic degree from eitherOxford orCambridge, or by becoming a member of theChapel Royal—Parsley received neither of these highly prized honours.^[13]

By the start of the 1570s, Parsley was being paid £12 a year, and the five other men in the cathedral choir were paid either £10 or £8, equivalent to the pay given to an unskilled construction worker. A decade later, the cathedral choirmaster, responsible for both the men's and boys' choirs, was being paid £12.^[14] The composerThomas Morley, master of the choirboys from 1583, had a salary not much more than those of the singing men.^[15]

In 1578,Elizabeth I and hercourt came to Norwich as part of aroyal progress, and the city was expected to provide accommodation, banquets and entertainment. Then the second city in England after London, Norwich was one of the few cities in the kingdom with such sufficient numbers of skilled musicians, but even so it had to resort to usingviol, trumpet andcornett players from Elizabeth's entourage.^[16] Elizabeth, in the company of hercourtiers, the most prominent of Norwich's citizens, and the clergy of the cathedral, heard aTe Deum by Parsley sung during the first evening of her visit,^[2] with the choir being supported by the city'swaits.^[16] Parsley was paid6+1⁄2shillings for the songs he had written and sung during the queen's visit.^[2] His music was also performed before Elizabeth when she returned to Norwich in 1597.^[17] None of his compositions for her visits to Norwich have survived.^[16]

In 1580, Parsley's name appeared at the top of the list of lay clerks in the Norwich Cathedral audit book.^[18] His will, made on 9 December 1584, was proved by his widow on 6 April of the following year. He died in Norwich in 1585, aged around 74, and was buried in the cathedral where he had worked throughout most of his life. He left bequests valued at about £75.^{[note 4][6]} A friend of fourBishops of Norwich—Richard Nykke,Thomas Thirlby,John Parkhurst andEdmund Freke^[8]—Parsley was also well respected by his contemporaries for his musical ability and his personal character. His fellowlay singing men honoured him by commissioning acommemorative plaque—uniquely for a lay clerk in an English cathedral^[20]—in the northaisle.^[6][21]

The plaque to Parsley, which once had indecipherable text, was restored in 1930 as a memorial to the composer and organistArthur Mann.^{[20][22][note 5]} It was unveiled during anevensong service on 10 July 1930, with music by Parsley and Mann sung by the choirs ofKing's College, Cambridge,Ely Cathedral, and Norwich Cathedral.^[20][22] The text of the memorial reads:^[24]

Musicae Scientissimo
Ei quondam Consociati
Musici posuerunt Anno 1585

Here lies the man whose Name in Spight of Death,
Renowned lives by Blast of Golden Fame:
Whose Harmony survives his vital Breath.
Whose Skill no Pride did spot whose Life no Blame.
Whose low Estate was blest with quiet Mind:
As our sweet Cords with Discords mixed be:
Whose life in Seventy and Four Years entwin'd,
As falleth mellowed Apples from the Tree.
Whose Deeds were Rules whose Words were Verity:
Who here a Singing-man did spend his Days.
Full Fifty Years in our Church Melody
His Memory shines bright whom thus we praise.

English composers of the late 15th century and early 16th century set a limited number of types of sacred music, each with a clear place in theliturgy.^[25]Until theReformation of 1534, whenHenry VIII broke with theCatholic Church, English composers based their works on theSarum rite, abolished in 1547.^[26] During the decades following the Reformation, the lives of English church musicians changed according to the policies of the reigning monarch. Henry allowed church music in England to continue to be written in a florid style, and useLatin texts, but during the reign of his son and successor,Edward VI, highlypolyphonic music was no longer permitted, and the authorities destroyedchurch organs and music, and abolished choral foundations. These changes were never completely reverted by Edward's successorMary during her brief reign; their half-sister Elizabeth, who succeeded Mary in 1558, confirmed or reinstated some of Edward's work.^[27]

Parsley's compositional career spanned the reigns of all four monarchs. He wrote church music for both the Latin and English rites.^[24] HisAnglican church music for theDaily Office included a morning service, involving theBenedictus canticle and the Te Deum, and an evening service that involved the singing of twocanticles, theMagnificat and theNunc dimittis.^[28]

Themusicologist Howard Brown noted that Parsley belonged to a group of outstanding composers from the middle period of the 16th century—William Mundy,Robert Parsons,John Sheppard,Christopher Tye,Thomas Tallis, andRobert White—who together produced a body of high quality music.^[29]

According to the scholar John Morehen, Parsley was less at ease when working with English texts, a trait Morehen finds Parsley had in common with similar Reformation composers.^[24] His Latin music is fluent and attractive, with extendedphrases that become increasinglymelismatic as they progress. Theparts in Latin are characteristically independent in a way that was typical of sacred polyphony in England before theReformation.^[30] The expressivepsalmConserva me, domine has an elegant polyphonic style.^[6] The technique shown in his English church music is less assured than his compositions for the Latin rite.^[30] His five-partLamentations, which differs from settings by his contemporaries Tallis and White in that atreble line (notable for the difficulty in singing the highest notes of the part) is maintained throughout, was probably intended for domestic devotional use.^[8] During the 1920s, the musicologist and composerW. H. Grattan Flood described Parsley'sLamentations as being "of particular interest".^[8] One piece, a well-crafted three-part canonic setting of the Salvator Mundi, was printed by Morley in 1597. Morley described Parsley's arrangement of this Gregorian hymn as a model of its kind,^[1] and alluded to him as "the most learned musician".^[8]

Some of Parsley's instrumental music, nearly all forviols, survives, including sixconsort pieces;^[31] both his Latin and English vocal styles can be found in his instrumental style.^[30] The composition known as "Parsley's Clock" is similar to bothCharles Butler's "Dial Song", and "What strikes the clocke?" by the English choirmaster and composerEdward Gibbons and a second anonymous piece, which were built around a line that counts the hours.^[32]

Peter Phillips, writing inThe Musical Times, in commendingConserva me, domine, noted that "Parsley can be remembered as one of those men who just once conjured up a masterpiece, as it seems to us now, from nowhere."^[33]

Parsley's surviving works consist mainly of church music from several locales.^[30] His choral works set to Latin texts includeConserva me, domine, his most substantial work;^[34] and theLamentations;^[35][24] those set to texts in English, written after the Dissolution, are his two Morning Services, each consisting of a Benedictus canticle and a Te Deum;^[6][36] an Evening Service previously attributed to Tye;^[37] and the anthem "This is the Day the Lord has made".^[35][24] Other compositions known to have been written by Parsley includeSpes nostra, amotet for five viols;^[38] fiveIn Nomine; "O praise the Lord all ye heathen", a tenor part recently found in a prayer book; a hymnSalvator mundi domine; a Service inC major;Super septem planetarum and the work known as "Parsley's Clock".^[35] Several examples of incomplete instrumental music have also survived.^[31]

Of the four of the greatLamentations of the Tudor period forHoly Week date from the 1560s, two were composed by Tallis, and one each byWilliam Byrd and Parsley. EarlierLent services avoided polyphony, which was regarded as lacking in solemnity.^[39] TheOxford Dictionary of National Biography describes Parsley'sLamentations as his most famous work.^[6]

Key

BL—British Library, London; BodL—Bodleian Library, Oxford; ERO—Essex Record Office, Chelmsford; PC—Peterhouse, Cambridge; QC—Queens' College, Cambridge; RCM—Royal College of Music; JO—Private collection of David McGhie, London; Private library of J. A. Owens,Davis, California; f.—folio, r,v—recto and verso; vv—voices.

CD recordings of some of Parsley's compositions have been made, and his music continues to be heard inchurch services and concerts.^[53][54][55]

• Boston, Noel (1963) [1938–1939].The Musical History of Norwich Cathedral. Norwich: The Friends of Norwich Cathedral.OCLC 450763.
• Boyd, Morrison Comegys (1962).Elizabethan Music and Musical Criticism (2nd ed.). Philadelphia:University of Pennsylvania Press.OCLC 599711.
• Brennecke, Ernest (1951)."Shakespeare's 'Singing Man of Windsor'".Publications of the Modern Language Association of America.66 (6). Cambridge:Cambridge University Press:1188–1192.doi:10.2307/460166.JSTOR 460166.S2CID 164007359.
• Brown, Howard Mayer (1976).Music in the Renaissance. Prentice Hall History of Music Series. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey:Prentice Hall.ISBN 978-01360-8-505-8.
• Butler, Katherine (2015).Music in Elizabethan Court Politics. Woodbridge, Suffolk:Boydell Press.ISBN 978-18438-3-981-1.
• Davey, Henry (1921) [1895].History of English Music (2nd ed.). London:J. Curwen.OCLC 890125681.
• Dovey, Zillah (1996).An Elizabethan Progress: The Queen's Journey Into East Anglia, 1578. Phoenix Mill:Fairleigh Dickinson University Press.ISBN 978-08386-3-721-0.
• Fellowes, Edmund H. (1969).English Cathedral Music (5th ed.). London:Methuen.ISBN 978-04161-4-850-3.
• Gant, Andrew (2017).O Sing Unto the Lord: A History of English Church Music. Chicago:University of Chicago Press.ISBN 978-02264-6-962-1.
• Grattan Flood, W. H. (1925)."New Light on Late Tudor Composers: XIII. Osbert Parsley".The Musical Times.66 (993). London: Musical Times Publications (United Kingdom): 990.doi:10.2307/911434.JSTOR 911434.
• Kerman, Joseph (1998). "On William Byrd'sEmendemus in melius". In Pesce, Dolores (ed.).Hearing the Motet: Essays on the Motet of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. New York; Oxford:Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-01953-5-165-1.
• Milsom, John (1997)."The Passing of Time".Early Music.25 (4 (25th Anniversary Issue)). Oxford:Oxford University Press:583–588.doi:10.1093/earlyj/XXV.4.583.JSTOR 3128406.
• Morehen, John (1974). "The Instrumental Consort Music of Osbert Parsley".The Consort.30. Hazlemere, UK:Dolmetsch Foundation:67–72.ISSN 0268-9111.
• Morley, Thomas (1608).A Plaine and Easie Introduction to Practicall Musicke. London: Humpfrey Lownes.OCLC 965139297.
• Murray, Tessa (2014).Thomas Morley: Elizabethan Music Publisher. Woodbridge, Suffolk:Boydell Press.ISBN 978-18438-3-960-6.
• Oxford University (1937)."Reviews of Music".Music and Letters.18 (2). Oxford:Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ml/XVIII.2.218-a.
• Phillips, Peter (1997)."Voices from Nowhere".The Musical Times.138 (1855). London: Musical Times Publications (United Kingdom):16–21.doi:10.2307/1003540.JSTOR 1003540.
• Unger, Melvin P. (2010).Historical Dictionary of Choral Music. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press.ISBN 978-08108-7-392-6.
• Waters, Charles F. (1930)."The 'Hymn-Anthem': A New Choral Form".The Musical Times.71 (1049). London: Musical Times Publications (United Kingdom):632–635.doi:10.2307/916038.JSTOR 916038.
• Willis, Jonathan (2013).Church Music and Protestantism in Post-Reformation England: Discourses, Sites and Identities. Farnham, UK: Ashgate Publishing Limited.ISBN 978-14094-8-081-5.

• Baker, David; Baker, Jennifer (1978)."A 17th-Century Dial-Song".The Musical Times.119 (1625). London: Musical Times Publications (United Kingdom):590–593.doi:10.2307/958823.JSTOR 958823.
• Buck, Percy Carter (1929).Hugh Aston, 1485(?)–(?), John Marbeck, 1510(?)–85(?), Osbert Parsley, 1511–85 (Scores). Tudor Church Music. Vol. 10. London: Published for theCarnegie United Kingdom Trust by theOxford University Press. pp. 229–293.OCLC 1181367552.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toOsbert Parsley.

• Free scores by Osbert Parsley in theChoral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
• Free scores by Osbert Parsley at theInternational Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
• Information aboutMS 429 –Norwich Cathedral Musical Events held by the Norfolk Record Office, Norwich, which includes detailed records of Parsley's pay.

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