Elizabethan church music composers biography
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William Byrd: Elizabeth I's Catholic composer
Here's an introduction to the life and music of William Byrd - one of Britain's most important and influential composers, whose deeply held faith made him an outsider figure in Elizabethan England.
Who was William Byrd?
William Byrd was one of the finest composers of his age and one of the very finest English composers ever to have lived. Almost of his pieces have survived: church music with Latin texts; church music with English texts; partsongs and madrigals; consort songs; instrumental ensemble music; and keyboard music.
The music he wrote for the Anglican church has never fallen out of favour, but most of his other music had to wait until the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century for its revival. A century later, that revival is at its peak.
When was William Byrd born?
Byrd is thought to have been born in or around and died in From the sources that survive, we think that he was probably born in Lo
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Elizabethan Church music
In Elizabethan England, the high vaults of late Gothic architecture echoed to the astonishing beauty and musical sophistication of which renaissance music was capable. If our leaden, mortal ears can hear it, here is something that must be close to that perfect harmony, the music of the spheres.
Starting with the simple, lyrical melodic lines of plainsong, the church composers of the period wrote music that was both passionate and serene, transcending the bitter struggles between differing and conflicting religious beliefs. (Go to the section on religion in the period.)
Listen* to Byrd&#;s "Mass for Four Voices".
Another liturgical piece by Byrd, a "Miserere" for four parts, played on harpsichord by John Sankey. Listen to the unusual chords that Byrd creates as he weaves the four parts together:
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John Farmer (composer)
Composer of the English Madrigal School
For other people with the same name, see John Farmer (disambiguation).
John Farmer (c. &#;&#; c. ) was an important composer of the English Madrigal School.[1] He was born in England during the Elizabethan period, and was also known by his skillful settings for four voices of the old church psalm tunes.[2] His exact date of birth is not known – a article by Grattan Flood posits a date around to based on matriculation records.[3] Farmer was under the patronage of the Earl of Oxford and dedicated his collection of canons and his late madrigal volume to his patron.[4]
In , Farmer was appointed organist and master of children at Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, and also, at the same time, organist of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin.[5][6] In , he moved to London and published his only collection of four-part madrigals, which he dedicated to Edward de Vere