The greatest English composer of his generation, comparable in
stature to his most distinguished continental contemporaries,
William Byrd was a versatile composer. Although remaining a Catholic,
loyalty that cost him considerable trouble in times of persecution
in England, he served as a member of the Chapel Royal, providing
music for the liturgy of the Church of England and, on a more
private scale, for his fellow-Catholics.
Byrd's compositions for the church may be separated into those for the Catholic liturgy and those designed for the officially recognised Church of England. The first category includes settings of the Mass for three, four and five voices, and a large quantity of other works for the various seasons of the church year.
For the Church of England Byrd wrote a Great Service and three other service settings, using the texts of the Anglican liturgy.
In addition to these compositions there are a number of anthems and psalm-settings, and consort songs with sacred texts of one sort or another.
Byrd also wrote a number of secular consort songs, songs with accompaniment entrusted to varying numbers of instruments.
Following the popular fashion of the time, Byrd provided music for various groups of instruments, usually performing in homo- genous ensembles, generally on viols, bowed and fretted string instruments that were held in higher social esteem than the lowly violin. Byrd's consort music includes a number of In nomines, a curious English form of music based on a fragment taken from a setting of the Benedictus by the 16th century composer Taverner. To these consort pieces may be added a series of Fantasias, contrapuntal music, as the title then implied.
Keyboard Music
Byrd was well known as a keyboard-player. He wrote a wealth of music for the virginals, Fantasias, Pavans and Galliards, the fashionable paired dances of the time, and song variations. The Earl of Salisbury Pavan and Galliard is a familiar recital piece as are the variations on Sellinger's Round and The Carman's Whistle.
