William Byrd: Difference between revisions

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{{TOC2}}
'''Aliases:''' If his surviving signatures are a representative sample, the composer's preferred spelling of his own name was "Byrde", although on his own publications it also appears as Bird and Byrd. His contemporaries knew him indiscriminately as Byrd(e), Bird(e) and even Burd(e).<br>
'''Aliases:''' If his surviving signatures are a representative sample, the composer's preferred spelling of his own name was "Byrde", although on his own publications it also appears as Bird and Byrd. His contemporaries knew him indiscriminately as Byrd(e), Bird(e) and even Burd(e).<br>
==Life==
==Life==
Line 9: Line 10:
Byrd's will, dated November 1622, declares that he is ‘in the 80th yeare of myne age’, but since a deposition of October 1598 gives his age as ‘58 yeares or ther abouts’ it seems likely the will had been drafted some time before being dated.
Byrd's will, dated November 1622, declares that he is ‘in the 80th yeare of myne age’, but since a deposition of October 1598 gives his age as ‘58 yeares or ther abouts’ it seems likely the will had been drafted some time before being dated.


William Byrd was one of the most celebrated English composers in the Renaissance. His entire life was marked by contradictions, and as a true Renaissance man he cannot be easily categorised. He lived until well into the seventeenth century without writing music in the new Baroque fashion, but his superbly constructed keyboard works marked the beginning of the Baroque organ and harpsichord style. Byrd's life is interesting because of his Roman Catholic sympathies combined with his work in the court of the Anglican Queen Elizabeth I. He composed much music, if intermittently, for the Roman Catholic liturgy, particularly in his later years; the two volumes of Gradualia form a prime example. Possibly as a result of this he did not receive widespread recognition in his lifetime, but was very well respected among the Roman Catholic gentry. In the anti-Catholic frenzy following the 1605 Gunpowder Plot, the first volume of the Gradualia, printed by Thomas East in 1605, was banned in England under penalty of imprisonment as indeed was all of his Catholic music; however his Anglican music— such as the Short Service, and the Responses— has been sung in English cathedrals uninterrupted for the past four centuries.  
William Byrd was one of the most celebrated English composers in the Renaissance. His entire life was marked by contradictions, and as a true Renaissance man he cannot be easily categorised. He lived until well into the seventeenth century without writing music in the new Baroque fashion, but his superbly constructed keyboard works marked the beginning of the Baroque organ and harpsichord style. Byrd's life is interesting because of his Roman Catholic sympathies combined with his work in the court of the Anglican Queen Elizabeth I. He composed much music, if intermittently, for the Roman Catholic liturgy, particularly in his later years; the two volumes of Gradualia form a prime example. Possibly as a result of this he did not receive widespread recognition in his lifetime, but was very well respected among the Roman Catholic gentry. In the anti-Catholic frenzy following the 1605 Gunpowder Plot, the first volume of the Gradualia, printed by Thomas East in 1605, was banned in England under penalty of imprisonment as indeed was all of his Catholic music; however his Anglican music— such as the Short Service, and the Responses— has been sung in English cathedrals uninterrupted for the past four centuries.


The entry in [[Cathedral Music, Volume 2 (William Boyce)]] reads:
The entry in [[Cathedral Music, Volume 2 (William Boyce)]] reads:
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William Bird, was admitted a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal in 1569. He, in conjunction with Thomas Tallis, published in 1575 a collection of their own compositions in Latin, entitled, Sacred Songs: and in the Years 1589, 1591, and 1605, he printed three other collections of his own Productions in the same Language, all of which had the same Title with the first conjoint Publication.
William Bird, was admitted a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal in 1569. He, in conjunction with Thomas Tallis, published in 1575 a collection of their own compositions in Latin, entitled, Sacred Songs: and in the Years 1589, 1591, and 1605, he printed three other collections of his own Productions in the same Language, all of which had the same Title with the first conjoint Publication.


His works were, in his own time, in great Repute, both at Home and Abroad, and are still held in general Estimation: His Canon of Non nobis Domine, will, in particular, remain a perpetual Monument to his Memory.--- He died in 1623.  
His works were, in his own time, in great Repute, both at Home and Abroad, and are still held in general Estimation: His Canon of Non nobis Domine, will, in particular, remain a perpetual Monument to his Memory.--- He died in 1623.
{{WikipediaLink}}<br>
{{WikipediaLink}}
 
:<big>Note.</big> This page is only partially automated. For an automated version, see [[/Automated]].
==List of choral works==
==List of choral works==
{{WorksListBox}}
{{WorksListBox}}
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*{{NoCo|Ascendit Deus in jubilatione}}
*{{NoCo|Ascendit Deus in jubilatione}}
*{{NoCo|Aspice Domine quia facta est}}
*{{NoCo|Aspice Domine quia facta est}}
*{{NoCo|Aspice Domine de sede - Respice Domine}}
{{mdl|4}}
{{mdl|4}}
*{{NoCo|Aspice Domine de sede - Respice Domine}}
*{{NoCo|Assumpta est Maria}}
*{{NoCo|Assumpta est Maria}}
*{{NoCo|Attollite portas}}
*{{NoCo|Attollite portas}}
Line 45: Line 46:
*{{NoCo|Ave Maria}}
*{{NoCo|Ave Maria}}
*{{NoCo|Ave maris stella}}
*{{NoCo|Ave maris stella}}
*{{NoCo|Ave Regina coelorum}}
*{{NoCo|Ave Regina coelorum}} 4vv
*{{NoCo|Ave verum corpus}}
*{{NoCo|Ave verum corpus}} 4vv
*{{NoCo|Beata es, Virgo Maria}}
*{{NoCo|Beata es, Virgo Maria}} 5vv
*{{NoCo|Beata viscera}}
*{{NoCo|Beata viscera}} 5vv
*{{NoCo|Beati mundo corde}}
*{{NoCo|Beati mundo corde}} 5vv
*{{NoCo|Benedicta et venerabilis}}
*{{NoCo|Benedicta et venerabilis}} 5vv
*{{NoCo|Benigne fac, Domine}}
*{{NoCo|Benigne fac, Domine}} 5vv
*{{NoCo|Cantate Domino}}
*{{NoCo|Cantate Domino}} 6vv
*{{NoCo|Christe qui lux es et dies}}
*{{NoCo|Christe qui lux es et dies a 5}}
*{{NoCo|Christe qui lux es et dies a 4}}
*{{NoCo|Christus resurgens}} 4vv
{{mdl|4}}
{{mdl|4}}
*{{NoCo|Christe qui lux es et dies a4}}
*{{NoCo|Christus resurgens}}
*{{NoCo|Cibavit eos}}
*{{NoCo|Cibavit eos}}
*{{NoCo|Circumdederunt me}}
*{{NoCo|Circumdederunt me}}
Line 69: Line 70:
*{{NoCo|Deo gratias}}
*{{NoCo|Deo gratias}}
*{{NoCo|Descendit de coelis - Et exivit per auream portam}}
*{{NoCo|Descendit de coelis - Et exivit per auream portam}}
*{{NoCo|Deus in adjutorium}}  
*{{NoCo|Deus in adjutorium}}
*{{NoCo|Deus venerunt gentes - Posuerunt morticinia - Effuderunt sanguinem - Facti sumus opprobrium}}
{{mdl|4}}
{{mdl|4}}
*{{NoCo|Deus venerunt gentes - Posuerunt morticinia - Effuderunt sanguinem - Facti sumus opprobrium}}
*{{NoCo|Dies sanctificatus}}
*{{NoCo|Dies sanctificatus}}
*{{NoCo|Diffusa est gratia - Propter veritatem - Vultum tuum}}
*{{NoCo|Diffusa est gratia - Propter veritatem - Vultum tuum}}
*{{NoCo|Diliges Dominum}}
*{{NoCo|Diliges Dominum}}
*{{NoCo|Domine ante te}}
*{{NoCo|Domine ante te}}
*{{NoCo|Domine Deus omnipotens}} 5vv
*{{NoCo|Domine exaudi orationem - Et non intres in judicium}}
*{{NoCo|Domine exaudi orationem - Et non intres in judicium}}
*{{NoCo|Domine non sum dignus}}
*{{NoCo|Domine non sum dignus}}
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*{{NoCo|Ecce advenit dominator Dominus}}
*{{NoCo|Ecce advenit dominator Dominus}}
*{{NoCo|Ecce quam bonum}}
*{{NoCo|Ecce quam bonum}}
*{{NoCo|Ecce virgo concipiet}}  
*{{NoCo|Ecce virgo concipiet}}
*{{NoCo|Ego sum panis vivus}}
*{{NoCo|Ego sum panis vivus}}
*{{NoCo|Emendemus in melius}}
*{{NoCo|Emendemus in melius}}
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*{{NoCo|Jesu nostra redemptio}}
*{{NoCo|Jesu nostra redemptio}}
*{{NoCo|Justorum animae}}
*{{NoCo|Justorum animae}}
*''Kyrie'': see Masses, ''Great Service, Laetania''
*{{NoCo|Laetania}} (Litany "Kyrie…") 4vv
*{{NoCo|Laetentur coeli - Orietur in diebus}}
*{{NoCo|Laetentur coeli - Orietur in diebus}}
*{{NoCo|Laudate Dominum omnes gentes}}
*{{NoCo|Laudate Dominum omnes gentes}}
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*{{NoCo|Ne irascaris Domine - Civitas sancti tui}}
*{{NoCo|Ne irascaris Domine - Civitas sancti tui}}
*{{NoCo|Pange lingua gloriosi|Nobis datus}}
*{{NoCo|Pange lingua gloriosi|Nobis datus}}
*{{NoCo|Non nobis Domine}} (Anonymous) - spurious, not by Byrd  
*{{NoCo|Non nobis Domine}} (Anonymous) - spurious, not by Byrd
*{{NoCo|Non vos relinquam orphanos}}
*{{NoCo|Non vos relinquam orphanos}}
{{mdl|4}}
{{mdl|4}}
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{{mdl|4}}
{{mdl|4}}
*{{NoCo|Quodcunque ligaveris}}
*{{NoCo|Quodcunque ligaveris}}
*{{NoCo|Quomodo cantabimus}} 8vv
*{{NoCo|Quotiescumque manducabitis}}
*{{NoCo|Quotiescumque manducabitis}}
*{{NoCo|Recordare Domine - Quiescat Domine}}
*{{NoCo|Recordare Domine - Quiescat Domine}}
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*{{NoCo|Rorate caeli desuper}}
*{{NoCo|Rorate caeli desuper}}
*{{NoCo|Sacerdotes Domini}}
*{{NoCo|Sacerdotes Domini}}
*{{NoCo|Sacris solemniis}}
*{{NoCo|Salve Regina - Et Jesum benedictum}} (1591)
*{{NoCo|Salve Regina - Et Jesum benedictum}} (1591)
*{{NoCo|Salve Regina (1605)}}
*{{NoCo|Salve Regina (1605)}}
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*{{NoCo|Salve sola Dei genitrix}}
*{{NoCo|Salve sola Dei genitrix}}
*{{NoCo|Senex puerum portabat a 4}}
*{{NoCo|Senex puerum portabat a 4}}
{{mdl|4}}
*{{NoCo|Senex puerum portabat (a 5)}}
*{{NoCo|Senex puerum portabat (a 5)}}
{{mdl|4}}
*{{NoCo|Siderum rector}}
*{{NoCo|Siderum rector}}
*{{NoCo|Solve jubente Deo}}
*{{NoCo|Solve jubente Deo}}
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*{{NoCo|Tribulationes civitatum - Timor et hebetudo - Nos enim pro peccatis}}
*{{NoCo|Tribulationes civitatum - Timor et hebetudo - Nos enim pro peccatis}}
*{{NoCo|Tristitia et anxietas - Sed tu Domine}}
*{{NoCo|Tristitia et anxietas - Sed tu Domine}}
{{mdl|4}}
*{{NoCo|Tu es pastor ovium}}
*{{NoCo|Tu es pastor ovium}}
{{mdl|4}}
*{{NoCo|Tu es Petrus}}
*{{NoCo|Tu es Petrus}}
*{{NoCo|Tui sunt coeli}}
*{{NoCo|Tui sunt coeli}}
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*{{NoCo|Second Service}}
*{{NoCo|Second Service}}
*{{NoCo|Short Evening Service}}
*{{NoCo|Short Evening Service}}
*{{NoCo|Te Deum in D minor}}  
*{{NoCo|Te Deum in D minor}}
*{{NoCo|Benedictus in D minor}}
*{{NoCo|Benedictus in D minor}}
*{{NoCo|Nicene Creed in D minor}}
*{{NoCo|Nicene Creed in D minor}}
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*{{NoCo|Lord, have mercy upon us}}
*{{NoCo|Lord, have mercy upon us}}
*{{NoCo|The Great Service}}
*{{NoCo|The Great Service}}
**''Venite  
**''Venite
**''Te Deum  
**''Te Deum
**''Benedictus  
**''Benedictus
**{{NoCo|Kyrie}}
**{{NoCo|Kyrie}}
**''Creed  
**''Creed
**[[Great Service Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis (William Byrd)|Magnificat]]
**[[Great Service Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis (William Byrd)|Magnificat]]
**[[Great Service Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis (William Byrd)|Nunc Dimittis]]
**[[Great Service Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis (William Byrd)|Nunc Dimittis]]
Line 306: Line 312:


==Secular music==
==Secular music==
{{#SortWorks:Secular music|cols=3}}
{{Top}}
*{{NoCo|Ah silly Soul}} Alto & 5 viols
*{{NoCo|All as a sea}} 5vv
*{{NoCo|Although the heathen poets}} 5vv
*{{NoCo|Ambitious love}} 5vv
*{{NoCo|And think ye Nymphs to scorn at love - Love is a fit of pleasure}} 5/6vv
*{{NoCo|As I beheld I saw a herdman wild}}
*{{NoCo|Awake mine eyes}}
*{{NoCo|Care for thy soul}}
*{{NoCo|Come jolly Swains}}
*{{NoCo|Come to me grief for ever}}
*{{NoCo|Come woeful Orpheus}}
*{{NoCo|Compel the hawk to sit}}
*{{NoCo|Constant Penelope}}
*{{NoCo|Crowned with flowers}}
*{{NoCo|The Eagle's force}}
*{{NoCo|The fair young virgin - But not so soon}}
*{{NoCo|Farewell false Love}}
*{{NoCo|A feigned friend}}
*{{NoCo|From Citheron the warlike boy is fled - There careless thoughts are freed - If Love be just}}
*{{NoCo|The greedy Hawk}}
*{{NoCo|I joy not in no earthly bliss}}
{{mdl|3}}
*{{NoCo|I thought that Love had been a boy}}
*{{NoCo|If in thine heart}}
*{{NoCo|If that a sinner's sighs}}
*{{NoCo|If women could be fair}}
*{{NoCo|In crystal towers}}
*{{NoCo|In fields abroad}}
*{{NoCo|In Winter cold - Whereat an ant}}
*{{NoCo|Is Love a boy? - Boy pity me}}
*{{NoCo|Let not the sluggish sleep}}
*{{NoCo|The match that's made}}
*{{NoCo|My mind to me a kingdom is}}
*{{NoCo|The nightingale}}
*{{NoCo|O dear life}}
*{{NoCo|O mistress mine}}
*{{NoCo|O sweet deceit}}
*{{NoCo|O that most rare breast}}
*{{NoCo|O you that hear this voice}}
*{{NoCo|Of flattering speech}}
*{{NoCo|Of gold all burnished - Her breath is more sweet}}
*{{NoCo|Penelope that longed for the sight}}
*{{NoCo|Retire my soul}}
*{{NoCo|See those sweet eyes - Love would discharge}}
*{{NoCo|Sellenger's Round}}
{{mdl|3}}
*{{NoCo|Susanna fair (1588)}} 5vv
*{{NoCo|Susanna fair (1589)}} 3vv
*{{NoCo|This sweet and merry month of May (a 4)}}
*{{NoCo|This sweet and merry month of May (a 6)}}
*{{NoCo|Though Amarillis dance in green}}
*{{NoCo|Upon a Summer's day - Then for a boat}}
*{{NoCo|La Virginella}}
*{{NoCo|Wedded to will is witless}}
*{{NoCo|Weeping full sore}}
*{{NoCo|What is life, or worldly pleasure?}}
*{{NoCo|What pleasure have great princes}}
*{{NoCo|When first by force}}
*{{NoCo|When I was otherwise}}
*{{NoCo|When younglings first - But when by proof}}
*{{NoCo|Where fancy fond}}
*{{NoCo|While that the Sun}}
*{{NoCo|Who likes to love}}
*{{NoCo|Who looks may leap}}
*{{NoCo|Who made thee, Hob, forsake the Plough}}
*{{NoCo|Why do I use my paper, ink and pen?}}
*{{NoCo|Wounded I am - Yet of us twain}}
*{{NoCo|Ye sacred muses}}
{{btm}}
{{CheckMissing}}
{{CheckMissing}}
{{Whatlinkshere}}
{{Whatlinkshere}}
==Publications (vocal music only)==
==Publications (vocal music only)==
*''[[Cantiones quae ab argumento sacrae vocantur]]'' (1575), jointly with [[Thomas Tallis]]
*''[[Cantiones quae ab argumento sacrae vocantur]]'' (1575), jointly with [[Thomas Tallis]]

Revision as of 17:04, 25 November 2020

Aliases: If his surviving signatures are a representative sample, the composer's preferred spelling of his own name was "Byrde", although on his own publications it also appears as Bird and Byrd. His contemporaries knew him indiscriminately as Byrd(e), Bird(e) and even Burd(e).

Life

Byrd.jpg

Born: 1539 or 1540?

Died: 4 July 1623

Biography:
Byrd's will, dated November 1622, declares that he is ‘in the 80th yeare of myne age’, but since a deposition of October 1598 gives his age as ‘58 yeares or ther abouts’ it seems likely the will had been drafted some time before being dated.

William Byrd was one of the most celebrated English composers in the Renaissance. His entire life was marked by contradictions, and as a true Renaissance man he cannot be easily categorised. He lived until well into the seventeenth century without writing music in the new Baroque fashion, but his superbly constructed keyboard works marked the beginning of the Baroque organ and harpsichord style. Byrd's life is interesting because of his Roman Catholic sympathies combined with his work in the court of the Anglican Queen Elizabeth I. He composed much music, if intermittently, for the Roman Catholic liturgy, particularly in his later years; the two volumes of Gradualia form a prime example. Possibly as a result of this he did not receive widespread recognition in his lifetime, but was very well respected among the Roman Catholic gentry. In the anti-Catholic frenzy following the 1605 Gunpowder Plot, the first volume of the Gradualia, printed by Thomas East in 1605, was banned in England under penalty of imprisonment as indeed was all of his Catholic music; however his Anglican music— such as the Short Service, and the Responses— has been sung in English cathedrals uninterrupted for the past four centuries.

The entry in Cathedral Music, Volume 2 (William Boyce) reads:

William Bird, was admitted a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal in 1569. He, in conjunction with Thomas Tallis, published in 1575 a collection of their own compositions in Latin, entitled, Sacred Songs: and in the Years 1589, 1591, and 1605, he printed three other collections of his own Productions in the same Language, all of which had the same Title with the first conjoint Publication.

His works were, in his own time, in great Repute, both at Home and Abroad, and are still held in general Estimation: His Canon of Non nobis Domine, will, in particular, remain a perpetual Monument to his Memory.--- He died in 1623.

View the Wikipedia article on William Byrd.

Note. This page is only partially automated. For an automated version, see /Automated.

List of choral works

Latin.png Sacred music

in Latin (A-D)

Latin.png in Latin (E-O)

Latin.png in Latin (P-Z)

England.png English Anthems

Services

Secular music

Other works not listed above (See Template:CheckMissing for possible reasons and solutions)


Click here to search for this composer on CPDL

Publications (vocal music only)

Contributions to:

External links

There is no single official Byrd website, but a variety of useful resources can be found scattered widely across the Web. Many of these sites still repeat the (almost certainly) incorrect birthdate of 1543.