John Plummer (also ''Plomer'', ''Plourmel'', ''Plumere'', ''Polmier'', ''Polumier''; c. 1410 – c. 1483) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

composer who flourished during the reign of

Henry VI of England Henry VI (6 December 1421 – 21 May 1471) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. The only child of Henry V, he succeeded to the English throne ...

. Not many of Plummer's compositions survive. The motets ''Anna mater matris Christi'' (Anne, mother of the mother of Christ) and ''Tota Pulchra Es'' (My Love is Wholly Beautiful) are widely available and recorded. A number of Plummer's compositions appear in the manuscript

Brussels Biliothèque Royale MS 5557 Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. During his own lifetime, knowledge and performance of his works spread at least as far as the present-day Czech Republic, where pieces such as ''Tota Pulchra Es'' were copied into the

Codex Speciálník The Speciálník Codex (CZ-HKm MS II.A.7) is a 15th-century ''speciálník'' (i.e. special songbook) originating from a monastery in the region of Prague. Its eclectic mix of Medieval and Renaissance '' a cappella'' sacred music is matched only by ...

(c. 1500). These pieces are unaccompanied sacred vocal music written for use in the great royal and noble chapels of northern Europe. Plummer was a member of the English

Chapel Royal The Chapel Royal is an establishment in the Royal Household serving the spiritual needs of the sovereign and the British Royal Family. Historically it was a body of priests and singers that travelled with the monarch. The term is now also appl ...

at least from 1438, and was also apparently the first to hold the office of Master of the

Children of the Chapel The Children of the Chapel are the boys with unbroken voices, choristers, who form part of the Chapel Royal, the body of singers and priests serving the spiritual needs of their sovereign wherever they were called upon to do so. They were oversee ...

Royal from 1444 to 1455. He left the royal household towards the end of his career and moved to

St George's Chapel, Windsor St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in England is a castle chapel built in the late-medieval Perpendicular Gothic style. It is both a Royal Peculiar (a church under the direct jurisdiction of the monarch) and the Chapel of the Order of the G ...

, where he held the post of

verger A verger (or virger, so called after the staff of the office, or wandsman (British)) is a person, usually a layperson, who assists in the ordering of religious services, particularly in Anglican churches. Etymology The title of ''verger'' ...

, which at the time implied greater responsibility than in more recent times. This post is likely to have supported him in his declining years.

References

*''Four Motets by John Plummer'' (Plainsong and Medieval Music Society: Piers Press, 1968) *'John Plummer' in ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', ed.

Stanley Sadie Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was an influential and prolific British musicology, musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the ''Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), whi ...

(London: Macmillan, 1980) *"John Plummer, the Royal Household Chapel and St George's Chapel, Windsor," Helen Marsh Jeffries, in ''St George's Chapel, Windsor, In the Fourteenth Century'' ed. Nigel Saul (Boydell, 2005)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Plummer, John 1410 births 1483 deaths Renaissance composers English male classical composers English classical composers Masters of the Children of the Chapel Royal 15th-century English composers