Byrd: Psalmes, Songs and Sonnets (1611)

Featuring

Harry Christophers
The Sixteen
Fretwork
William Byrd

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Compositional Technique

Byrd's vocal ranges in this collection are highly varied, with voice distributions changing throughout, from low sopranos and tenors to stratospheric heights.

Instruments

Byrd's Psalmes, Songs, and Sonnets is his only songbook that explicitly specifies stringed instruments, such as viols, in addition to voices.

Composition History

William Byrd's Psalmes, Songs and Sonnets is his final publication, which he referred to as his 'ultimum vale' or 'last labours'.

Historical Context

The year 1611, when this songbook was printed, was significant for the arts in England, also seeing the publication of Shakespeare's 'The Tempest' and the King James Version of the Bible.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Byrd's preface to this collection emphasizes the importance of careful performance and repeated listening, stating that 'the well expressing of them... is the life of our labours' and that a well-made song is better understood with repeated hearings.

Composer Biography

Late in 1594, William Byrd and his family moved to Stondon Massey in rural Essex, near his friend Sir John Petre, whose home had a room known as 'Mr Byrd's chamber'.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Byrd compiled this collection for the enjoyment of all, including both sacred and secular works, and aimed to provide 'Musicke to content every humour: either melancholy, merry, or mixt of both'.