The Classical Music Book

52

A

lthough William Byrd is

believed to have been a

Catholic for most, if not all,

of his life, he composed music for

the Anglican Church in addition to

motets and Masses in Latin for the

Catholic rite. He lived through three

eras of religious revisionism in

England. Under Henry VIII and then

Edward VI, the country had been

Protestant since 1534, but in 1553

Mary Tudor acceded to the throne

with her husband Philip II of Spain

and reinstated Catholicism. When

Mary died in 1558, Elizabeth I

returned England to Protestantism.

However, Elizabeth was tolerant of

Catholicism among the country’s

gentry if they were loyal and

practiced it discreetly. She

sanctioned the use of Latin for

services at the Chapel Royal, and

The seeds of Protestantism in

England were sown by Martin Luther,

the architect of the Reformation in

Germany, shown here playing music

with his children.

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

English Protestant

church music

BEFORE

1558 John Sheppard

composes his Second Service,

a setting for five voices of the

“full” service (rather than

the customary short service

comprising only settings of the

Magnificat and Nunc dimittis)

and precursor to Byrd’s

10-voice Great Service.

c.1570 William Mundy

composes his Evening Service

In medio chori for a choir in

nine parts, expanding to 11

parts at times.

AFTER

c.1620 Thomas Weelkes

publishes Evensong for Seven

Voices, a Great Service in up

to 10 parts.

c.1630 Thomas Tomkins’s

Third or Great Service for 10

voices is the grandest work

in the genre.

THAT IS THE NATURE

OF HYMNS—THEY

MAKE US WANT TO

REPEAT THEM

GREAT SERVICE (c. 1580/1590), WILLIAM BYRD

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