William Byrd

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William Byrd Life

When only 20 years of age he was appointed organist and master of the choristers at Lincoln Cathedral, but he left in 1572 for London, where he had been named a gentleman of the Chapel Royal.

Although a steadfast Roman Catholic, Byrd remained a loyal member of the Anglican musical establishment until his death.

MIDI FILE - Galliard for 6 violas (1'45'')

The music he wrote for the Anglican church was surpassed only by his music for the Roman Catholic rite, most of which was privately performed in the houses of his patrons, who were members of the recusant Catholic minority.

Despite the allusions to religious persecution in the text of Byrd's Motets, he was respected and admired for his musical abilities by Queen Elizabeth I and King James I.

MIDI FILE - Hey ho To the greenwood (0'52'')

Byrd was a fine organist and a virtuoso performer on the virginals, for which he wrote numerous pieces, including fantasias, dances, variations, and program music.

He was one of the pioneers of the consort song (for voice and viols) and also excelled in chamber music of many kinds: sacred and secular songs for domestic use, and a wide variety of forms and styles ranging from lullabies to theater music.

MIDI FILE - Ave Verum Corpus (3'05'')

He may have been one of the inventors of the verse-anthem, and he composed occasional music on the defeat of the Spanish Armada and on the death of Tallis.

His secular music includes settings of poems by the earl of Oxford, Sir Philip Sidney, and Sir Edward Dyer and madrigals, most of which are adaptations of consort songs.

Byrd's most important contributions to Renaissance music, however, may be found in the motets of the Cantiones sacrae (1575, with Tallis; 1589; 1591) and the Gradualia (1605, 1607), as well as in the three masses (published without date but probably composed in 1592-95).

MIDI FILE - From "The FitzWilliam Virginal Book": The Maydens Song (4'44'')

In his finest work Byrd equaled the highest achievements of his European contemporaries, and his pupil Thomas Morley was amply justified in averring that Byrd should "never without reverence be named among the musicians."

MIDI FILE - From "The FitzWilliam Virginal Book": Pavane et Galliarde (4'25'')