As Lent approaches, the St. Paul’s congregation will be singing the Missa in Tempore Alligatum on Sunday 2nd March for the last time until Easter. Instead we will be confining ourselves to the more sober setting by John Merbecke  c.1510 – c. 1585. 

 Initially a boy chorister, and then organist at St. George’s Chapel Windsor, Merbecke became a significant English choral composer and theological writer who lived through dangerous times. Having been convicted of heresy he was sentenced to be burnt at the stake, only to receive a last-minute pardon, thanks to the intervention of the then Bishop of Winchester, Stephen Gardiner, who declared Merbecke to be “but a musitian”. The spelling doesn’t do much to mitigate the apparent disdain in which we in the profession are held, but I suppose, given the context, we should all be grateful to be alive! 

In 1550 Merbecke published his Booke of Common Praier Noted which was intended to provide musical uniformity in the use of the Prayer Book. Despite the multitude of changes in the lIturgy since then, Merbecke’s setting provides an anchor point for congregational singing during the service of Holy Communion to this day. The style is a cross between Gregorian chant and semi-rhythmical melodies which are easy to latch onto, providing a context free of period associations – neither ancient nor modern, ie timeless.