William Byrd Research Paper

William Byrd was an English composer and organist during the Shakespearean age. Although the exact date of his birth is highly debated, it is supposed that he was born in a town called Lincoln in eastern England somewhere between 1538-1543. The way they come to this conclusion is by looking at his will, made in 1622 says he was 80 years old at the making of it, so that means he was born in the 1540s. Byrd had two brothers and four sisters. His brothers eventually became merchants, but all three buys began musical training when they were seven years old. At a young age, he was tutored by Thomas Tallis at the Chapel Royal, and through the years, their relationship exponentially grew.

In 1572, he was appointed Gentleman of the Chapel Royal and became an organist with his tutor, Tallis. Three years later, in 1575, Queen Elizabeth I delegated a joint monopoly between the two to import, print, publish, and sell music, as well as printing music paper. In that same year, the two made their first work: Cantiones sacrae (sacred songs), which included 34 motets (vocal music). They split the work between them, having Byrd write 18 of the motets and Tallis write 16. Two years later, Byrd moved his family to Harlington, Middlesex.
Sadly, Tallis died in 1585, which inspired and encouraged Byrd to publish more and more music.
He published four collections of music: Pslalms, Sonets, & Songs of Sadnes and Pietie (published 1588), Songs of Sundrie Natures (1589), and two other Cantiones sacrae books (1589 and 1591). Again, Byrd's family moved, this time to Stondon Massey, Essex, which would later be where he died on July 4th, 1623. The Accession of James I prompted Byrd's next three collections: three masses and two books of Gradualia (1605 and 1607). William Byrd's heavily influenced the English composers, by writing extensive music for almost every medium available at that time. Also, he was very famous for his development of the English
madrigal.