Osbert Parsley

Parsley was an English composer who spent most of his life in Norwich where he is reported to have sung in the cathedral choir for fifty years. He scored music in both the Latin and the English rites as he was a composer who lived his life during the course of the Reformation. The compositions which he scored for the Latin services are considered much more worthy than his compositions for the English service. "Conserva me, Domine" may be one of his more exceptional works as Parsley developed polyphonic textures with expression and complexity. Viols were probably an interest of Parsley's as a number of instrumental pieces for four and five viols are attributed to him. A three part canon for viols by Parsley was included in Morley's "A Plain and Easy Introduction to Practical Music" as an example. ~ Keith Johnson