John Sheppard (1515-1558) was, like Tallis, appointed a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal during the reign of Henry VIII, having previously been Informator Choristarum at Magdalen College, Oxford. Without the proliferation of printing that came in later periods, and the constantly changing allegiances between Catholicism and Protestantism, it has proved difficult to date much of Sheppard’s music, and many of his Catholic works could have been from the reign of Henry or Mary, with no great variation in style between the two periods. It is suspected that this setting of the text was written while Sheppard was at Oxford, as it was employed twice each day at Magdalen College, despite its proper use being as an antiphon at Matins on Trinity Sunday. Similar to Tallis’s Loquebantur, Sheppard’s Libera nos, salva nos contains a cantus firmus of the plainsong in the lowest voice part, beneath tranquil and measured polyphony.

from notes by Adam Binks © 2009