William Byrd and his English precursors

Loyal servant & devout catholic, William Byrd lived a double life. Whilst composing brilliant gems for the courts and chapels of the Protestant monarchs Elizabeth I and James I, he remained a staunch Catholic throughout a period of dire persecution. Tonight’s programme juxtaposes the two sides of Byrd’s musical character: the public and private faces of a man regarded by his contemporaries as ‘a Father of Musick'.