William Byrd (1540 or late 1539 –1623) was one of the most celebrated Engli… Read Full Bio ↴William Byrd (1540 or late 1539 –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.
The Galliarde to the Third Pavian
William Byrd Lyrics
We have lyrics for these tracks by William Byrd:
attollite portas Attollite portas, principes, vestras, et elevamini, portae a…
Ave Verum Corpus Ave verum Corpus natum de maria virgine. Vere passum immolat…
Ne irascaris Domine Ne irascaris Domine satis, et ne ultra memineris iniquitatis…
Ne irascaris, Domine Ne irascaris Domine satis, et ne ultra memineris iniquitatis…
The Great Service: Nunc Dimittis Now Thou dost dismiss Thy servant, O Lord, according to…
Tribue Domine Tribue Domine, ut donec in hoc fragili corpore positus sum, …
Tribue, Domine Tribue Domine, ut donec in hoc fragili corpore positus sum, …
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
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François Couperin
beautiful! btw, I was just trying to remember... didn’t you have a site with videos like this one before youtube was created? I remember visiting it frequently... I think
smalin
You mean, before 2005? I've had a website for quite a while, but online streaming was really only practical from about the time YouTube started. Before that, I posted a few videos (a dozen? I don't remember) on video sharing services that existed before YouTube. Maybe Vimeo was one of those? But almost no one knew about them, so while it's possible you saw them online, it's not likely. Prior to 2005, my videos could be seen on Classic Arts Showcase, and were publicized by Edward Tufte in his seminars (and sold on DVD and, before that, VHS videotape).
Accipiter Ignitus
The power of organist? It's definitely hard to play
smalin
When musicians say "can you play it?" the answer can be "well, I can play the notes," and so "play" by itself means that you can play the right notes at the right times; whether it's a performance that is expressive, moving, meaningful, etc., is described in other ways (like "other people can play the piece, but so-and-so really expresses it").
Accipiter Ignitus
@smalin You are right, the word "play" has alredy included all the details a performing musician should consider. This recording is awesome indeed
smalin
no, it's easy ... but making it emotionally/physically/spiritually moving ... that takes depth
Matt
Challenge: one of these... but a Liszt song.
Ivan the Benighted
Always loving your work.
By the way, last day you meant I was an benighted/ignorant because I won't compose good music? :/ I think I didn't understand.
smalin
@Epsilon SIlver "Take music seriously" and "being a virtuoso" are not what's relevant here. For example (from Wikipedia) "Tchaikovsky began piano lessons at age five. Precocious, within three years he had become as adept at reading sheet music as his teacher." Xenakis memorized Mozart's Requiem in its entirety before he was sixteen (which I think demonstrates an unusual ability). Borodin ... well, yeah, okay, you could be as great a composer as Borodin if you were only a very talented amateur before that (but I don't think Borodin was anywhere near the composer that Mendelssohn was). But few people, even people with some musical talent, end up being even as good as Borodin (and I'd be willing to bet that Alex is older than sixteen, and that he can't even sight-read piano music fluently yet).
Epsilon SIlver
@smalin Its not fair to say that composers who weren't virtuosos as a child are hopeless at being a great musician/composer later in life. Many important and known composers didn't take musically seriously until adulthood, just off the top of my head I can name Xenakis, Tchaikovsky, and Borodin.