English composer and singer of the Renaissance period (c. 1515 December 1558).
Very little is known about Sheppard's life. He claimed to have been composing music (not just singing it) as early as 1534, indicating a birth year somewhere in the mid-1510s. Some of his Anglican music survives with indications of being written during the reign of King Edward, and he did compose a Mass in the tradition of John Taverner's Western Wynde. By 1557, the composer was well enough respected in the English court to present Queen Mary with a roll of songs on New Years' Day of that year.
Name Vars
- J. Sheppard
- John Shepherd
- Shepherd
- Sheppard