William Byrd
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William Byrd (between 1534 and 1543 –1623) was one of the most celebrated English composers in the Renaissance.
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 are 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 (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.
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 are 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 (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.
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BYRD: Masses for Four and Five Voices
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BYRD / TALLIS: Masses
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Byrd, W.: Masses - A 3, 4, 5
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Shoutbox
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DarkSoul777 wrote:
http://www.last.fm/music/William+Byrd/+images/73679328 PNG version of current main. It will look better in our libraries.
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progtrance7 wrote:
What a cool bearded dude
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pauljinks wrote:
Banned by the Queen 372 years before the Sex Pistols' God Save the Queen.
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Zimmerman333 wrote:
Gran historia...
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nathixx wrote:
genius
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theoldshadow wrote:
the best *-*
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purple_prince wrote:
Don't sound so surprised
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TinyPhilosopher wrote:
this stuff is actually really gorgeous
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indietrash wrote:
needs more live pics
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Phase3 wrote:
I thought 'emo' was something in Latin. :P
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FaerytaleMalice wrote:
Does anyone know of a free recording of Pavan? Like legal free. The only one I have is an awful cell phone recording of a chamber practicing it. I'd like a nice recording.
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n33k33 wrote:
Keepin it emo since 1540 AD <- gtfo
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Chriswildman wrote:
Can anyone tell me how I can identify Byrd from Lassus, or Tallis from Victoria apart from the obvious language differences when not singing in Latin
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Chriswildman wrote:
what does emo mean?
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saelynh wrote:
ho I'm a Top listener :D
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shaggyshaggy wrote:
Keepin it emo since 1540 AD
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wdywhyte wrote:
loving his stuff.
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lifeontheplains wrote:
Mallcore? Really?
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Recent Activity
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jenmichalsky tagged William Byrd with ‘catholic’. 8 hours ago
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wychwoodtigger added William Byrd to wychwoodtigger’s library. yesterday morning
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rgrhyne3 tagged William Byrd with choral, early music and renaissance. Tuesday evening
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Juanonimo and serenseed added William Byrd to their libraries. Tuesday afternoon
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rgrhyne3 tagged William Byrd with early music and renaissance. last week
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DarkSoul777 uploaded byrd PNG to William Byrd’s images. last month
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lecorff added William Byrd to lecorff’s library. last month
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korob_kov tagged William Byrd with ‘renaissance’. last month
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Faverolles, ANTelkar, scotmpeterson and 4 other people added William Byrd to their libraries. last month
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minimalistme tagged William Byrd with ‘enrapturing’. last month
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