RenaissanceWilliam Byrd
William Byrd was born in London almost five hundred years ago, in the time of the Tudor kings and queens.
William Byrd’s life
The big moments of this life, and what was happening in the world at the same time.
A life at a glance
- 1540👶 Birth
Born around 1540 in London
- 1543🌍 Meanwhile
Copernicus: the Earth goes round the Sun
- 1555🌍 Meanwhile
Andrea Amati makes the earliest known violins in Cremona (c. 1555)
- 1558🏛️ Landmarkabout age 18
Elizabeth I becomes Queen of England
- 1563🎩 Careerabout age 23
Organist and choirmaster of Lincoln Cathedral
- 1568❤️ Private lifeabout age 28
Marries Juliana Birley
- 1572🎩 Careerabout age 32
Gentleman of the Chapel Royal in London, alongside Thomas Tallis
- 1575🎼 Workabout age 35
With Tallis, receives a monopoly on printing music; Cantiones sacrae
- 1588🎼 Workabout age 48
Psalmes, Sonets & Songs, his first English song collection
- 1591🎼 Workabout age 51
My Ladye Nevells Booke, pieces for virginal
- 1600🌍 Meanwhile
Shakespeare writes Hamlet (c. 1600)
- 1609🌍 Meanwhile
Galileo observes the sky with his telescope
- 1623🕯️ Deathabout age 83
Dies on 4 July at Stondon Massey
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Excerpts of up to 90 seconds, freely licensed recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
Once upon a time…
William Byrd was born in London almost five hundred years ago, in the time of the Tudor kings and queens. He became organist and singer in Queen Elizabeth I’s chapel.
But there was a problem: the queen was Protestant, and Byrd was Catholic, which was frowned upon at the time. He had to pay fines. Yet the queen loved his music so much that she protected him!
He wrote masses in secret for Catholic families, who sang them hidden in their homes. He also wrote pieces for the virginal, a small harpsichord, including one that imitates a battle with drums and trumpets.
He has been called “the father of English music”.
William Byrd’s instruments
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