John Redford (c. 1500 - 1547) was a major English
composer, organist, and dramatist of the Tudor period.
From about 1525 he was organist at St Paul's Cathedral
(succeeding Thomas Hickman). He was choirmaster there
from 1531 until his death in 1547. Many of his works
are represented in the Mulliner Book. He is notable as
one of the earliest composers, rather than improvisers,
of organ music, having notated a significant quantity
of keyboard music, all of it liturgical in function,
based on plainc...(+)
John Redford (c. 1500 - 1547) was a major English
composer, organist, and dramatist of the Tudor period.
From about 1525 he was organist at St Paul's Cathedral
(succeeding Thomas Hickman). He was choirmaster there
from 1531 until his death in 1547. Many of his works
are represented in the Mulliner Book. He is notable as
one of the earliest composers, rather than improvisers,
of organ music, having notated a significant quantity
of keyboard music, all of it liturgical in function,
based on plainchant melodies; a few vocal works by him
also survive.
As he held the post of Almoner and Master of the
Choristers, Redford was responsible for the arrangement
of the choristers performances, including writing and
directing plays and interludes. The most celebrated of
these entertainments is the morality play, The Play of
Wyt and Science (written ca 1530-1550), which exists in
one manuscript in the British Library (MS 15233).
However, the first five pages of the manuscript are
missing; there is no way to know how much is lost.
Redford also wrote a number of poems, including the 23
verse Nolo mortem peccatoris, which was set to music by
Thomas Morley, who was a later organist at St Paul's.
Another poem is The Chorister's Lament, in which
choirboys complain of the cruel beatings meted out to
them.
Recently, attribution of "Rejoice in the Lord Alway"
was determined to have been falsely given to John
Redform and remains an anonymous authored piece. In the
only early source the piece is anonymous and the text
set did not become significant until the publication of
the first Book of Common Prayer two years after
Redford's death.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Redford).
Although originally composed for Chorus (SATB), I
created this interpretation of "Rejoice in the Lord
Alway" for Winds (Flute, Oboe, French Horn & Bassoon) &
Strings (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).