As a Renaissance composer in England during the sixteenth century William Byrd achieved what few other of a similarly high profile did, namely to remain in favour no matter which way the religious wind prevailed in England. Like Thomas Tallis (who is believed to have been his teacher at the Chapel Royal) Byrd managed to navigate the fall out of the Reformation in Elizabethan England and remained popular and published. More than that, sometime during the 1570s he became a Roman Catholic and wrote Catholic sacred music later in his life, whilst keeping his job, and his head!
Byrd's early years
In his will of 15 November 1622, Byrd described himself as "in the 80th year of [his] age", suggesting a birthdate of 1542 or 1543. However a document dated 2 October 1598 written in his own hand states that he is "58 yeares or ther abouts", indicating an earlier birthdate of 1539 or 1540.
There is no documentary evidence on his early musical training. His two brothers were choristers at St. Paul's Cathedral, although evidence suggests William was a chorister with the Chapel Royal where he was a pupil of Thomas Tallis. His first known professional employment was his appointment in 1563 as organist and master of the choristers at Lincoln Cathedral. Lincoln had a strong Puritan influence and in both 1569 Byrd was in trouble for both over-elaborate choral polyphony and organ playing during the liturgy. Perhaps then he realised there was a fine line to tread within the bounds of acceptability?
The Chapel Royal
Byrd obtained the prestigious post of Gentleman of the Chapel Royal in 1572 following the death of Robert Parsons. Byrd was listed as "organist" but this was not a specific role in the Chapel at that time, he was merely most capable of playing it.
Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603) was no Puritan, and retained a fondness for elaborate ritual. Many still presume Elizabeth held a "laissez faire" attitude to religious practise in her country but this was far from the truth. Whatever her personal preferences, she expected compliance and insisted upon it.
In 1559, Queen Elizabeth I of England issued a set of solemn Injunctions to strengthen the nation's Oath of Supremacy and its worship by the Book of Common Prayer. They specified that services should contain a hymn or song of praise to God, "in the best sort of music that may be conveniently devised." This phrase firmly ensconced choral music within the English church service and it helped establish the genre that would later be known as the anthem.
A generation of English composers such as Thomas Tallis and William Byrd served the Protestant cause with that "best sort of music," adapting the techniques of the Continental Renaissance (though both also continued to write music for the Catholics as well). Despite his later adherence to Catholicism Byrd contributed to the repertoire of Anglican church music. He did write latin motets (forbidden) with Catholic sympathising texts and was cited often as a recusant, but he was considered to be loyal to the crown, and was protected from the harshest punishments because of the esteem he was held in by the queen and by his noble patrons.
Printing Monopoly
In 1575, Queen Elizabeth granted Tallis and William Byrd a 21-year monopoly for polyphonic music and a patent to print and publish music, which was one of the first arrangements of that type in the country. Tallis had exclusive rights to print any music in any language, and he and Byrd were the only ones allowed to use the paper that was used in printing music. They took advantage of the patent to produce a grandiose joint publication "Cantiones quae ab argumento sacrae vocantur", a collection of 34 Latin motets dedicated to the Queen herself, 17 motets each by Tallis and Byrd one for each year of the Queen's reign. It was a financial failure and both had to petition the Crown for help, being granted leaseholds on lands in East Anglia and the West Country for 21 years - an unusually generous gift given the ostentatious nature of the publication which concerned reforming Protestants greatly.
Anthems
Byrd composed many consort songs, psalms and sonnets. His church anthems evolved from the relatively sober early examples such as O Lord, make thy servant Elizabeth our queen to later complex polyphonic works such as Sing joyfully. Byrd stretched the bounds of acceptability in his use of polyphony and latin with some reforming Protestants who regarded his music as a distraction from the Word of God. (This period saw the birth of the verse anthem, where the Word of God could be given prominence in solo verses to accommodate religious change as much as musical novelty.)
O Sing Joyfully
Byrd's anthem for six voices, Sing Joyfully unto God Our Strength, proved to be one of the most popular and durable anthems of the Elizabethan age: though no sixteenth century sources survive, Sing Joyfully appears in roughly 100 prints and manuscript copies that span the following century. The jubilant anthem has fully retained its currency within Anglican worship today. Byrd's Sing Joyfully presents four verses of Psalm 81 (Geneva Bible) in flawless counterpoint and nearly madrigalian text setting.
Masses and Gradualia
in 1594 Byrd went into semi-retirement, moving from London to Stondon Massey in Essex and there embarked on a programme to provide a cycle of liturgical music covering all the principal feasts of the Catholic Church calendar in his Gradualia. His three masses were written at this time, and are generally listed among his greatest works, "masterpieces of late Elizabethan polyphony".
Nos vos relinquam orphanos is from the Gradualia, the Magnificat Antiphon set down for first vespers. It is an unusual choice for inclusion as Byrd did not often include texts for the offices in the Gradualia. Byrd uses the Alleluias to structure the form in this motet with the first two passages worked together almost as a single phrase, while the third is audibly different. Our choir recorded it remotely and multi-tracked it for Ascension:-
Byrd's early years
In his will of 15 November 1622, Byrd described himself as "in the 80th year of [his] age", suggesting a birthdate of 1542 or 1543. However a document dated 2 October 1598 written in his own hand states that he is "58 yeares or ther abouts", indicating an earlier birthdate of 1539 or 1540.
There is no documentary evidence on his early musical training. His two brothers were choristers at St. Paul's Cathedral, although evidence suggests William was a chorister with the Chapel Royal where he was a pupil of Thomas Tallis. His first known professional employment was his appointment in 1563 as organist and master of the choristers at Lincoln Cathedral. Lincoln had a strong Puritan influence and in both 1569 Byrd was in trouble for both over-elaborate choral polyphony and organ playing during the liturgy. Perhaps then he realised there was a fine line to tread within the bounds of acceptability?
The Chapel Royal
Byrd obtained the prestigious post of Gentleman of the Chapel Royal in 1572 following the death of Robert Parsons. Byrd was listed as "organist" but this was not a specific role in the Chapel at that time, he was merely most capable of playing it.
Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603) was no Puritan, and retained a fondness for elaborate ritual. Many still presume Elizabeth held a "laissez faire" attitude to religious practise in her country but this was far from the truth. Whatever her personal preferences, she expected compliance and insisted upon it.
In 1559, Queen Elizabeth I of England issued a set of solemn Injunctions to strengthen the nation's Oath of Supremacy and its worship by the Book of Common Prayer. They specified that services should contain a hymn or song of praise to God, "in the best sort of music that may be conveniently devised." This phrase firmly ensconced choral music within the English church service and it helped establish the genre that would later be known as the anthem.
A generation of English composers such as Thomas Tallis and William Byrd served the Protestant cause with that "best sort of music," adapting the techniques of the Continental Renaissance (though both also continued to write music for the Catholics as well). Despite his later adherence to Catholicism Byrd contributed to the repertoire of Anglican church music. He did write latin motets (forbidden) with Catholic sympathising texts and was cited often as a recusant, but he was considered to be loyal to the crown, and was protected from the harshest punishments because of the esteem he was held in by the queen and by his noble patrons.
Printing Monopoly
In 1575, Queen Elizabeth granted Tallis and William Byrd a 21-year monopoly for polyphonic music and a patent to print and publish music, which was one of the first arrangements of that type in the country. Tallis had exclusive rights to print any music in any language, and he and Byrd were the only ones allowed to use the paper that was used in printing music. They took advantage of the patent to produce a grandiose joint publication "Cantiones quae ab argumento sacrae vocantur", a collection of 34 Latin motets dedicated to the Queen herself, 17 motets each by Tallis and Byrd one for each year of the Queen's reign. It was a financial failure and both had to petition the Crown for help, being granted leaseholds on lands in East Anglia and the West Country for 21 years - an unusually generous gift given the ostentatious nature of the publication which concerned reforming Protestants greatly.
Anthems
Byrd composed many consort songs, psalms and sonnets. His church anthems evolved from the relatively sober early examples such as O Lord, make thy servant Elizabeth our queen to later complex polyphonic works such as Sing joyfully. Byrd stretched the bounds of acceptability in his use of polyphony and latin with some reforming Protestants who regarded his music as a distraction from the Word of God. (This period saw the birth of the verse anthem, where the Word of God could be given prominence in solo verses to accommodate religious change as much as musical novelty.)
O Sing Joyfully
Byrd's anthem for six voices, Sing Joyfully unto God Our Strength, proved to be one of the most popular and durable anthems of the Elizabethan age: though no sixteenth century sources survive, Sing Joyfully appears in roughly 100 prints and manuscript copies that span the following century. The jubilant anthem has fully retained its currency within Anglican worship today. Byrd's Sing Joyfully presents four verses of Psalm 81 (Geneva Bible) in flawless counterpoint and nearly madrigalian text setting.
You can download the score from Choral Wiki here
Masses and Gradualia
in 1594 Byrd went into semi-retirement, moving from London to Stondon Massey in Essex and there embarked on a programme to provide a cycle of liturgical music covering all the principal feasts of the Catholic Church calendar in his Gradualia. His three masses were written at this time, and are generally listed among his greatest works, "masterpieces of late Elizabethan polyphony".
Nos vos relinquam orphanos is from the Gradualia, the Magnificat Antiphon set down for first vespers. It is an unusual choice for inclusion as Byrd did not often include texts for the offices in the Gradualia. Byrd uses the Alleluias to structure the form in this motet with the first two passages worked together almost as a single phrase, while the third is audibly different. Our choir recorded it remotely and multi-tracked it for Ascension:-
Non vos relinquam orphanos, alleluia.
Vado, et veniam ad vos, alleluia.
Et gaudebit, cor vestrum, alleluia.
I will not leave you orphans, alleluia.
I go, and I will come to you, alleluia.
And your heart shall rejoice, alleluia.
William Byrd's reputation as one of the great masters of European Renaissance music is amply justified by his 470 compositions. He transformed many of the main musical forms of his day; personalising the motet, consort song and madrigal. He also raised the church anthem and the Anglican service setting to new heights, despite being a Roman Catholic.
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