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Remembering William Byrd 400 years after his death
On the revolutionary value of personal integrity in an English composer of the late Renaissance
(L to R) Lincoln Cathedral in the 17th centiry and William Byrd
[(L to R) unknown public domain Gerard van der Guch/CC]
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2023 marks the 400th anniversary of the death of William Byrd, as well as that of Thomas Weelkes. Both English composers were highly influential, and to this day choirs and ensembles the world over perform works by both composers.
Discussions of William Byrd often focus upon the ingenuity of his music, and almost entirely separate his music from the world around him. However, Byrd was born towards the end of Henry VIII’s life, meaning sectarianism was the prominent societal ill, which Byrd himself had somehow to navigate.
Although we don’t have a definitive year of birth, it is assumed Byrd was born in either 1539 or 1540. He came to prominence in Lincoln as the organist and master of the choristers at Lincoln Cathedral in 1563, but he became an influential figure when he became a gentleman of the Chapel Royal in 1572.
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