David Peebles ables(died 1579?) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

religious music Religious music (also sacred music) is a type of music that is performed or composed for Religion, religious use or through religious influence. It may overlap with ritual music, which is music, sacred or not, performed or composed for or as a ri ...

Biography

Little is known of his life but the majority of his work dates to between 1530 and 1576. He is known to have been a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

at the Augustinian Priory of St Andrews until the

Scottish Reformation The Scottish Reformation was the process whereby Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland broke away from the Catholic Church, and established the Protestant Church of Scotland. It forms part of the wider European 16th-century Protestant Reformation. Fr ...

(1559–60). After leaving the priory at the Reformation he seems to have married and had two children. He was dead some time before 1592, as his wife's will of that date describes her as Peebles's "relict", and mentions two lawful sons, Andrew and Thomas.Ross, D James. "Peebles, David". ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' online

Work and influence

His most well-known composition, ''Si quis diligit me'' (text from

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

14:23), is a

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the preeminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to the Eng ...

for four voices (SATB) and was written around 1530 and presented to

James V of Scotland James V (10 April 1512 – 14 December 1542) was List of Scottish monarchs, King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of King James IV a ...

, who "being a musitian ... did lyke it verray weill". Francy Heagy added an alto part to this motet around 1547 and this is shown in most contemporary editions. In the 1560s, following the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

, Peebles was commissioned by

James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military aviator. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morali ...

Earl of Moray The title Earl of Moray, or Mormaer of Moray (pronounced "Murry"), was originally held by the rulers of the Province of Moray, which existed from the 10th century with varying degrees of independence from the Kingdom of Alba to the south. Until ...

and the natural son of James V, to set the

Book of Psalms The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of ...

to music in four parts; 105 of these settings, written with the tune in the tenor, were composed for use in Scottish churches.Elliott, Kenneth. "Peebles, David". ''New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' online.

References

External links

Entry on Scottish composers at The Art of Music; mentions Peebles"Account of the Scottish Psalter of A.D. 1566" from ''Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland'', April 1868
(requires

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) {{DEFAULTSORT:Peebles, David Scottish composers Renaissance composers 16th-century births 1570s deaths Year of birth unknown 16th-century Scottish people 16th-century Scottish musicians Court of Mary, Queen of Scots People from St Andrews 16th-century Scottish composers 16th-century Scottish Roman Catholic priests