William Byrd facts for kids

William Byrd (born around 1540 – died 4 July 1623) was a famous English composer from the late Renaissance period. Many people think he was one of the greatest composers of his time. He had a big impact on other composers in England and across Europe. He is often seen as one of England's most important early music composers, alongside John Dunstaple and Henry Purcell.

Byrd wrote many different kinds of music. This included sacred (religious) and secular (non-religious) polyphony (music with multiple independent melodies). He also wrote music for keyboard instruments, like the harpsichord, and for groups of instruments called consorts. Even though he wrote religious music for the Church of England, he became a Roman Catholic in the 1570s. After that, he also wrote Catholic religious music.

Life of William Byrd

Early Years

Birth and Family

William Byrd was probably born in London. He was the third son of Thomas and Margery Byrd. We don't know his exact birth date, but he was likely born in 1539 or 1540. His family was musical and quite well-off. His two older brothers became merchants in London. One of his sisters married a person who made musical instruments.

Childhood and Learning Music

We don't have many details about Byrd's childhood. His brothers sang in the choir at St. Paul's Cathedral. William might have been a chorister there too, or perhaps at the Chapel Royal. It's believed that he learned music from Thomas Tallis, another famous composer. Tallis was part of the Chapel Royal, which was a group of musicians who performed for the monarch.

First Steps in Music

Byrd started composing when he was young. He wrote pieces like Sermone Blando and a "Miserere." These early works show that he learned polyphony when he was a student.

Working in Lincoln

Lincoln Cathedral

Byrd's first known job was in 1563. He became the organist and choir master at Lincoln Cathedral. He lived there until 1572. His time in Lincoln wasn't always easy. He faced some problems, possibly because his music was too fancy for some people who preferred simpler church music.

In 1568, Byrd married Juliana Birley. They had at least seven children together.

Joining the Chapel Royal

In 1572, Byrd got a very important job. He became a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal. This meant he worked for Queen Elizabeth I. This job gave him many chances to compose more music and meet important people at court. Queen Elizabeth loved music and played the keyboard. She liked grand church music, which suited Byrd's style.

In 1575, Byrd and Tallis were given a special right. They were the only ones allowed to print music and music paper for 21 years. This was the first time such a right was given for music printing in England. They published a collection of Latin motets called Cantiones Sacrae. However, this book did not sell well. In 1577, they had to ask Queen Elizabeth for financial help.

His Catholic Faith

From the early 1570s, Byrd became more and more involved with the Catholic faith. At this time, being Catholic in England was difficult. The government saw Catholics as a threat, especially after the Pope declared Queen Elizabeth an outlaw.

Byrd and his family faced challenges because of their faith. His wife, Juliana, was fined for not attending Anglican church services. Byrd himself appeared on lists of people who refused to attend Anglican services from 1584. He was known to associate with other Catholics. Sometimes, his movements were restricted, and his house was searched. Despite these difficulties, Byrd continued to practice his faith and compose Catholic music.

Moving to Stondon Massey

Around 1594, Byrd moved with his family to Stondon Massey in Essex. He was in his early fifties and started to semi-retire from the Chapel Royal. He lived at Stondon Place for the rest of his life. One main reason for his move was to be closer to his patron, Lord Petre. Lord Petre was a wealthy Catholic who held secret Mass celebrations at his home. Byrd was perfect for providing music for these services.

Even though he was Catholic, Byrd still wrote music for the Anglican church. He had to pay large fines for not attending the parish church.

Anglican Church Music

Byrd's strong Catholic faith did not stop him from writing beautiful music for the Anglican church. His Anglican church music includes anthems and service settings. Some of his early anthems are simple, while later ones like Sing joyfully are more complex.

He also helped create the "verse anthem," which combined solo singing with instrumental music. Byrd's four Anglican service settings range from the simple Short Service to the grand Great Service. The Great Service is a huge piece of music for many voices and organ. It was likely sung by the Chapel Royal Choir on important occasions.

Later Life and Death

In his later years, Byrd continued to write consort songs. These were songs for a solo voice with instrumental accompaniment. Some of these songs were elegies (sad songs) for important people who had died.

William Byrd stayed in Stondon Massey until he passed away on 4 July 1623. He was described as "a Father of Musick" in the Chapel Royal records. Even with the fines he paid for his Catholic faith, he died a wealthy man.

William Byrd's Music

Further information: List of compositions by William Byrd

During his life, Byrd published several important music collections. These included three volumes of Cantiones Sacrae (1575, 1589, 1591), two volumes of Gradualia (1605, 1607), and English songbooks like Psalmes, Sonets, and Songs of Sadnes and Pietie (1588), Songs of Sundrie Natures (1589), and Psalmes, Songs, and Sonnets (1611). He also composed three Masses, music for the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, and many motets.

First Compositions

One of Byrd's earliest pieces was a collaboration with two other musicians, John Sheppard and William Mundy. It was a setting of the psalm In exitu Israel. He probably wrote this when he was a teenager.

Some of his early keyboard and consort pieces might also be from this time. Consort pieces were often used to train choirboys. His Short Service, a simple setting for Anglican church services, was likely composed during his time in Lincoln. He also made big progress with instrumental music, writing seven In Nomine settings and important keyboard works like the Ground in Gamut.

The 1575 Cantiones Sacrae

Byrd and Tallis used their printing right to publish a grand collection called Cantiones quae ab argumento sacrae vocantur. This book had 34 Latin motets (religious choral pieces). Each composer contributed 17 motets, one for each year of Queen Elizabeth's reign.

Byrd's motets in this collection showed different styles. Some, like Laudate pueri, were originally instrumental pieces that later had words added. Others, like Diliges Dominum, were complex musical puzzles. Some motets, such as Tribue Domine, were large and had sections for full choir and smaller groups of singers.

Byrd's contributions also included more modern-sounding pieces. These showed the influence of another composer, Ferrabosco I, who worked at the English court. Byrd learned from Ferrabosco how to set emotional texts using flowing melodies and counterpoint.

The 1589 and 1591 Cantiones Sacrae

Byrd's strong Catholic beliefs were clearly shown in his motets. He wrote about 50 motets between 1575 and 1591. Scholars believe that the texts he chose for his motets in the 1580s had a deeper meaning. They often talked about themes like the persecution of God's people or the longing for freedom. This suggests that Byrd was using these biblical texts to express the feelings of the Catholic community, who saw him as their composer.

Some texts might have been warnings against spies or celebrations of priests who had been martyred. For example, his setting of Psalm 78, Deus venerunt gentes, is thought to refer to the execution of Father Edmund Campion in 1581.

Thirty-seven of Byrd's motets were published in two sets of Cantiones Sacrae in 1589 and 1591. These collections were dedicated to powerful lords. Many of these motets continued the emotional style found in his earlier works. Domine praestolamur (1589) is a good example of this.

Some pieces in these collections were different. They included older techniques or used vivid word painting (music that sounds like the words). This showed the growing popularity of the madrigal (a type of secular vocal music).

English Song-books of 1588 and 1589

In 1588 and 1589, Byrd also published two collections of English songs. The first, Psalms, Sonnets and Songs of Sadness and Pietie (1588), contained the first madrigals published in England. Many of these were adapted from earlier "consort songs." Consort songs were solo songs for a high voice, often a boy's, with four instruments (usually viols).

Byrd's 1588 collection included settings of psalms and lighter, faster songs. It also showed his connection to the literary group around Sir Philip Sidney. The most popular song in this collection was the Lullaby (Lullay lullaby).

The Songs of Sundrie Natures (1589) had sections for three, four, five, and six voices. It included a wide variety of musical styles. There were settings of metrical psalms and lighter songs. Byrd also included two carols and an anthem (a church piece).

My Ladye Nevells Booke

The 1580s were also a busy time for Byrd's instrumental music. In 1591, a collection of 42 of Byrd's keyboard pieces was finished. This book, called My Ladye Nevells Booke, was probably made under Byrd's guidance. It showed his skill in many different keyboard styles.

The collection included ten pavans and galliards. These were popular dance forms. The Ninth Pavan was a set of variations. The book also had two famous pieces of program music. The Battle described a battle with movements like "The marche to fight" and "The Galliarde for the victorie." It was very popular. The Barley Break was a light-hearted piece about a game. My Ladye Nevells Booke also contained two large "Grounds" (pieces based on a repeating bass line) and many keyboard variations.

Consort Music

Byrd also added many pieces to his collection of consort music. Consort music is for a group of instruments, usually viols. Two impressive pieces are the Browning, which has 20 variations on a popular tune, and an elaborate "ground" called the Goodnight Ground.

His smaller fantasias (for three or four instruments) used a light, imitative style. The larger five- and six-part fantasias often built up in complexity and sometimes included parts of popular songs.

Masses

Byrd then started a project to create a series of religious music for the Catholic Church year. The first part of this project was his three Mass cycles (for four, three, and five voices). These were published between 1592 and 1595. The books were printed secretly because owning Catholic books was dangerous.

All three Masses used older English Mass traditions. They also showed influences from European music and the practices of Catholic priests trained abroad. The Mass for Four Voices was partly based on John Taverner's Mean Mass.

A special part of the four-part and five-part Masses is how Byrd handled the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God). The final words, dona nobis pacem ("grant us peace"), are set with emotional music. This likely showed the hopes of the Catholic community for peace during the difficult 1590s.

Gradualia

The second part of Byrd's religious music project was the Gradualia. These were two collections of motets, with 109 pieces in total, published in 1605 and 1607. They were dedicated to Catholic nobles. These large collections showed the hopes of Catholics for an easier life under the new King James I.

Most of the Gradualia pieces are settings of the Proprium Missae (parts of the Mass that change for different feasts) for major Catholic holidays. Byrd often used a "transfer" system. This meant one piece could be used in different parts of the liturgy to avoid setting the same text twice.

The motets in Gradualia are generally shorter than those in the Cantiones Sacrae. They often have intricate but focused counterpoint. Some festive pieces, especially in the 1607 set, use vivid word-painting, like madrigals. The Gradualia were not as popular as Byrd's earlier works. This was partly because of renewed anti-Catholic persecution after the Gunpowder Plot in 1605.

1611 Psalms, Songs and Sonnets

Byrd's last collection of English songs was Psalms, Songs and Sonnets, published in 1611 when he was over 70. This collection had sections for three, four, five, and six voices. It included two consort fantasias and eleven English motets, mostly setting Bible texts. Some of his most famous pieces are in this collection, such as Praise our Lord, all ye Gentiles and This day Christ was born. There were also more carols and lighter songs.

Last Works

Parthenia, published in 1612

Byrd also contributed eight keyboard pieces to Parthenia (1612–13). This was a collection of 21 keyboard pieces by Byrd, John Bull, and Orlando Gibbons. It was published to celebrate the upcoming marriage of King James I's daughter, Princess Elizabeth. Byrd's contributions included the famous Earle of Salisbury Pavan, written in memory of Robert Cecil, who had died in 1612. His last published works were four English anthems in a collection called Teares or Lamentacions of a Sorrowfull Soule (1614).

William Byrd's Legacy

Byrd composed about 470 pieces of music. This huge amount of work shows why he is considered one of the great masters of European Renaissance music. One of his most impressive achievements was his ability to take many different musical forms of his time and make them his own.

He almost single-handedly created the English consort and keyboard fantasia. He also greatly improved the consort song, the church anthem, and the Anglican service setting. Even though he wasn't very interested in madrigals, he wrote many different kinds of secular vocal music in his 1588, 1589, and 1611 collections.

Byrd was highly respected by English musicians. Many scribes copied his music. One scribe, John Baldwin, wrote a poem praising Byrd as the best musician of his time. Byrd's student, Thomas Morley, dedicated his music book A Plaine and Easie Introduction to Practicall Musicke (1597) to Byrd. In 1622, Henry Peacham praised Byrd's sacred music as "Angelicall and Divine."

Some people even think that a line in Shakespeare's poem The Phoenix and the Turtle about "the bird of loudest lay" might refer to Byrd.

Byrd was also an important teacher. His students included Peter Philips and Thomas Tomkins, who became important keyboard composers. However, after Byrd died in 1623, English music began to change. The types of music he excelled at became less popular.

Only some of his Anglican church music continued to be performed after his death. It took until the 20th century for scholars to fully appreciate Byrd's music again. Today, many scholars continue to study and help us understand Byrd's life and music. In 1999, all of Byrd's keyboard music was recorded. In 2010, a group called The Cardinall's Musick finished recording all of Byrd's Latin church music.

William Byrd Primary Academy in Harlington is named after the composer.

Editions of Byrd's works

• The Byrd Edition (gen. ed. P. Brett), Vols 1–17 (London, 1977–2004)
• A. Brown (ed.) William Byrd, Keyboard Music (Musica Britannica 27–28, London, 1971)

See also

In Spanish: William Byrd para niños List of compositions by William Byrd

Images for kids

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  An etching of William Byrd by Gerard Vandergucht.