Osbert Parsley was born in 1511 and died in Norwich in 1585. He was a 'singing-child' in Norwich Cathedral, and was appointed a 'singing man' circa 1534. Parsley is first mentioned in the extant cathedral accounts for 1538–40 as a lay clerk, and he continues to appear in subsequent documentation until his death. In 1558 Parsley was married to Rose and bought a house and premises in St. Saviour's parish from John Hering and his wife Helen, which he owned until 1583. Spanning the Reformation, Parsley wrote church music for both Latin and English rites. His Latin music is fluent and attractive, the expressive psalmConserva me, Domine being especially noteworthy for its elegant polyphonic style. His most famous work, the five-part Lamentations, differs from settings by his more famous contemporaries in the restricted compass of the top part. Both psalm and lamentations were probably intended for domestic devotional use. Parsley also composed English church music: two four-part settings of the morning service and one anthem, and possibly a setting of the evening canticles. A small quantity of instrumental music, presumably for viols, also survives; mostly this occurs in manuscripts in the British Library, but one piece, a well-crafted three-part canonic setting of Salvator Mundi, was printed by Thomas Morley in 1597. Morley described Parsley’s arrangement of this Gregorian hymn as a model of its kind, and alluded to him as ‘the most learned musician.’ Parsley's will, made on 9 December 1584, was proved by his widow on 6 April of the following year; he left bequests valued at about £75. He was well respected by his contemporaries, for his musical ability and his personal character, as attested by his memorial. Much of our knowledge of Parsley's life comes from the text of a memorial stone to him in the North aisle of the cathedral, a unique honour amongst lay singingmen.
Music
He is credited with the following compositions:
Conserva Me Domine. "Parsley can be remembered as one of those men who just once conjured up a masterpiece, as it seems to us now, from nowhere."
and Nunc Dimittis and Te Deum and Benedictus, edited by Edmund H. Fellowes, OUP. "The remarkable resilience of the phrases is reflected in the general contrapuntal texture. E. R."
