The Classical Music Book

53

See also: Missa l’homme armé 42 ■ Missa Pange lingua 43 ■ Canticum

Canticorum 46–51 ■ Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott 78–79

RENAISSANCE 1400–1600

composers were permitted to

use Latin as well as English when

writing liturgical music.

Byrd flourished under

Elizabeth’s patronage. By 1565,

he was the organist and master

at Lincoln Cathedral, where he

produced his Short Service,

settings for Matins, Communion,

and Evensong, amounting to the

greater part of music in English for

the Anglican liturgy. Later, when

Byrd was a Gentleman of the

Chapel Royal, Elizabeth granted

Byrd and his fellow composer

Thomas Tallis, who was also a

Catholic, a monopoly on music

production in England.

God and queen

Concern about Byrd’s religious

adherence did become an issue,

however, in 1577, when Byrd’s wife,

Julian, was accused of failing to

attend a service by the Bishop of

London, John Aylmer, a rigorous

enforcer of the Act of Uniformity

of 1559, which aimed to unify the

Anglican Church. From then on,

Byrd did not make a secret of his

Catholic faith, and the reception for

the first publication of Latin “sacred

songs” in 1575 was lukewarm,

perhaps because of the Catholic

sentiment of some of the texts.

In spite of his Catholicism,

Byrd’s loyalty to queen and country

appears to have taken precedence

over his religious adherence. In

thanksgiving for the victory of the

English fleet over the Spanish

Armada in 1588, Elizabeth

composed a song titled “Look,

and Bow Down Thine Ear, O Lord.”

It is thought that she chose William

Byrd to set it to music. Although

the anthem is now lost, it would

have been a clear demonstration

of her high regard for him.

Last Anglican work

In 1580, Byrd published his

Great Service, his last work for

the Anglican rite. A monumental

composition, the Great Service

comprises seven sections for an

Anglican celebration of the mass

in English for two five-voice choirs.

It is not known if Byrd wrote his

Great Service with any particular

choir or occasion in mind. However,

the sheer scale of the piece and the

technical requirement of the writing

would have put it beyond the reach

of all but the largest choirs. Some

hear it as a farewell to colleagues,

or a last act of contrition to a

monarch who had chosen to

overlook Byrd’s Catholicism.

In 1605, a messenger carrying

a copy of Byrd’s newly published

Gradualia (a collection of settings

of movements of the Mass for the

Catholic church year, for three

to five voices) was apprehended

and thrown in Newgate gaol.

The composer, however, avoided

imprisonment, facing only pressure

in the courts and heavy fines. ■

William Byrd

Born into a large merchant

family in London in 1540,

William Byrd most likely

gained his musical training

as one of 10 boy choristers

at London’s St. Paul’s Church

(the Gothic predecessor of

St. Paul’s Cathedral), before

going on to sing for Catholic

ceremonies at the Chapel

Royal under Queen Mary.

Later, in 1572, during

Elizabeth I’s reign, Byrd

became a Gentleman of the

Chapel Royal, a post he held

for more than 20 years.

While Byrd composed

much secular music, including

works for virginals, he is best

known for his religious music.

In 1575, he and Thomas

Tallis published a first volume

of Latin motets, Cantiones

Sacrae (Sacred Songs). After

Tallis’s death, Byrd continued

the series with two volumes of

his own Cantiones in 1589 and

1591. Byrd published his last
      work, Psalmes, Songs, and
      Sonnets in 1611, 12 years
      before his death in 1623.

Other key works

1589 Cantiones sacrae, Book 1

1591 Cantiones sacrae, Book 2

1605 Gradualia

To a man thinking about

divine things ... the most

fitting measures come,

I know not how, as if by

their own free will.

William Byrd

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