Classical Music's Byrd 400 round-up

With the 400^th anniversary of the death of composer William Byrd coming up on 4 July, we present a round-up of just some of the many celebrations dedicated to this composer which are set to take place across the UK.

Spitalfields Music Festival

Spitalfields Music Festival is set to celebrate the anniversary on 12 July with Byrd at the Tower: Three Masses ft. Odyssean Ensemble at the exciting venue of the Church of St Peter ad Vincula in the Tower of London. The Ensemble will presents Byrd’s three masses which highlight the composer’s struggle as a Catholic during the religious upheaval of the Reformation, alongside prose and poetry focusing on more recent examples of persecution of and by religious groups.

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Stile Antico

Early music vocal ensemble Stile Antico is set to celebrate the composer with a weekend residency at London’s Temple Church. The residency will start with a performance of the ensemble’s England’s Nightingale programme, which explores ‘the many faces of this extraordinary composer’ through works including Ave verum corpus, O Lord make thy Servant Elizabeth, Sing Joyfully and Ne irascaris, alongside lesser-known pieces by his pupils Thomas Morley, Peter Philips, and Thomas Tomkins. This programme will then tour the country, delighting audiences in Derry (15 July), as part of the BBC Proms, St David’s (22 September), Birmingham (8 November) and Newcastle in 2024.

The ensemble will also launch a new schools project this year, offering 360 secondary school children Reasons to Sing. The project, inspired by Byrd’s manifesto of the same name will offer Year 8 pupils from schools where music provision is limited the chance to try singing, conducting and composing, culminating in the UK premiere of a new Byrd-inspired work by composer Kerry Andrew in Birmingham on 8 November.

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Temple Music Foundation

Stile Antico's Temple Church residency forms part of the Temple Music Foundation's William Byrd Festival, presenting a series of performances from 29 June to 2 July. Kicking off with England’s Nightingale, the festival will also include a lunchtime concert by Fretwork (30 June) focusing on Byrd's viol consort music and, later that evening Byrd and the Tudor Revival, during which Westminster Cathedral Choir will perform Vaughan Williams' Mass in G Minor with Marian Propers from Byrd's monumental Gradualia. Rounding off the festival on 1 July, Mahan Esfahani will give a lunchtime recital inspired by Byrd's works for keyboard.

Cheltenham Music Festival

Cheltenham Music Festival will host a special Byrdwatching event on 9 July, offering festivalgoers a musical tour of Cheltenham’s Regency-era drawing rooms. Normally closed to the public, these spaces will open for one night only for a series of intimate performances by musicians from Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. As well as works by Byrd and his contemporaries, the programme will also include a newly commissioned work for recorder consort from Composer Academy alumnus Aileen Sweeney, In The New Moon. 

Lincoln Cathedral

Lincoln Cathedral, where Byrd was master of the choristers from 1563 to 1572, will host a series of events celebrating the life and work of William Byrd as part of the Byrd 400 Festival. Running from 30 June to 4 July, the five-day festival will involve a programme of performances and lectures by performers and academics including the Tallis Scholars, Arculo Consort of Viols, harpsichordist Friederike Chylek as well as performers from the cathedral’s choristers and lay vicars. The cathedral choir will also be joined in singing its regular services by the Choir of Merton College Oxford and the Tallis Scholars.

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BBC Radio 3

BBC Radio 3 will broadcast one of cathedral’s choral evensong services, live from Lincoln as part of Byrdsong, a series of special programmes marking William Byrd’s 400th anniversary across all the station’s schedules. From 1 to 12 July the broadcaster will incorporate celebration of the British composer into well-loved shows including Music Masters, Free Thinking, Unclassified and the Early Music Show. The series will kick off with a special episode of Record Review during which presenter Andrew McGregor will be joined by Newcastle University head of music Kirsten Gibson to survey the range of recordings of works by William Byrd.

From 3 to 7 July BBC Radio 3 will present a series of programmes examining Byrd’s life through the places in which he lived. On 7 July, Essential Classics will present the culmination of its ‘Byrdspotting’ series which has explored a new example of Byrd’s ‘miniature masterpieces’ every day since April. Byrd will of course be Composer of the Week too. The series will close with a special Byrd-focused edition of Radio 3 in Concert on 12 July, with performances by The Sixteen and Harry Christophers recorded at York Minster.

The Sixteen

The Sixteen will also celebrate Byrd’s legacy through the ensemble’s Choral Pilgrimage 2023: A Watchful Gaze. The programme explores Byrd’s own music alongside the work of his influences and colleagues as well as exploring the composer’s legacy in the modern day with two new commissions by Dobrinka Tabakova. The Sixteen, along with conductors Harry Christophers and Eamonn Dougan will take the pilgrimage to locations across the UK, with performances in venues including York Minster (9 July), Exeter Cathedral (7 September), Tewkesbury Abbey (9 September), St Albans Cathedral (16 September), Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral (22 September) and Croydon Minster (25 September) before returning to London for a performance at Kings Place on 26 October.

Westminster Cathedral

London's Westminster Cathedral has been celebrating Byrd’s anniversary since the beginning of the year, with the Cathedral Choir will performing the entirety of his Gradualia during choral services at Westminster Cathedral. These two collections of settings of the Mass Proper were intended to help Catholics mark the different seasons of the Church’s calendar and will be performed throughout the year as part of the same services for which they were composed. Having begun on 18 December 2022 the performances will run until 25 December this year.

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The Gesualdo Six

The Gesualdo Six will return to St Martin-in-the-Fields in September with Secret Byrd: An Immersive Staged Mass. Following two sold-out world premiere performances in January the concert, produced by Concert Theatre Works, will return St Martin’s. Byrd’s Mass for 5 Voices was created for secret, private worship and so fits well within the crypt of the London church where the audience is invited to walk among the costumed singers.

SANSARA

The SANSARA choir will also celebrate Byrd’s anniversary with a tour, taking its Byrd 400: After Dark to venues including St Martin's in Barcheston (1 July), Saxon Shore Early Music (2 July), Oxford Festival of the Arts (3 July) and St Bartholomew-the-Great on the exact day of the anniversary (4 July). The group will then take the programme, which combines Byrd’s most well-known works with his more under-performed gems to Winchester’s St Cross Church (7 July).