sacræ vocantur, quinque et sex partium.’ Part of these were written by Byrd and part by his master, Tallis. The book was dedicated to Elizabeth and printed by Thomas Vautrollier; it appeared in 1575. Prefixed are eulogistic verses by Richard Mulcaster and Ferdinando Richardson, and at the end is an epitome of the patent granted to the authors. In 1578 Byrd was living at Harlington in Middlesex, where he had a house until 1588, and possibly for longer. Like most of the members of the Chapel Royal, although outwardly he had conformed to the state religion, yet he remained throughout his life a catholic at heart. The first evidence we have of this is a quotation given by Dr. Rimbault (Grove, Dict. of Music, i. 287 b) from a list of places frequented by recusants near London, in which his name occurs as living at Harlington in 1581, and ‘in another entry he is set down as a friend and abettor of those beyond the sea, and is said to be residing with Mr. Lister, over against St. Dunstan's, or at the Lord Padgette's house at Draighton.’ It was probably on account of his religion that he lived all his life some way out of London, where he would be less likely to attract attention. About 1579 Byrd set a three-part song, ‘Preces Deo fundamus,’ in Thomas Legge's Latin play ‘Richardus III’ (Harl. MS. 2412). In 1585 Tallis died, and under the terms of the patent the monopoly of printing music became Byrd's sole property. Accordingly, during the next few years he seems to have been unusually active in composition. His first important work was entitled ‘Psalmes, Sonets, and Songs of Sadnes and Pietie, made into Musicke of fiue parts: whereof, some of them going abroade among diuers, in vntrue coppies, are heere truely corrected, and th' other being Songs very rare and newly composed, are heere published, for the recreation of all such as delight in Musicke.’ This work (consisting of five part-books) was published by Thomas Easte, ‘the assigne of W. Byrd,’ in 1588. Rimbault (Bibliotheca Madrigaliana, p. 1) mentions another edition without date; probably this is the one referred to in an entry in the Stationers' Company's Registers (Arber, Transcript, ii. 477) as being already in print on 6 Nov. 1587. The work is dedicated to Sir Christopher Hatton; at the back of the title are eight quaint ‘Reasons briefely set downe by th' auctor to perswade euery one to learne to sing.’ In the same year (1588) Byrd contributed two madrigals to a collection made by one N. Yonge, entitled, ‘Musica Transalpina. Madrigals translated out of foure, fiue, and sixe parts, chosen out of diuers excellent Authors, with the first and second part of La Verginella, made by Maister Byrd, vpon two Stanz's of Ariosto, and brought to speake English with the rest.’ By this it will be seen that he was the composer of the first English madrigal. In the following year Byrd published two important works. The first was entitled ‘Songs of sundrie natures, some of grauitie, and others of mirth, fit for all companies and voyces.’ This consists of six part-books, and is dedicated to Sir Henry Cary, lord Hunsdon. It was published by Thomas Easte, and a second edition appeared in 1610, published by Easte's widow, Lucretia, ‘the assigne of William Barley.’ The second work was the ‘Liber Primus Sacrarum Cantionum quinque vocum,’ which was published by Easte on 25 Oct., and dedicated to the Earl of Worcester. An edition in score of this was published by the Musical Antiquarian Society in 1842. In 1590 Byrd contributed two settings of ‘This sweet and merry month of May’ to Thomas Watson's ‘First Sett of Italian Madrigalls Englished,’ and in 1591 (4 Nov.) he published the ‘Liber Secundus Sacrarum Cantionum,’ dedicated to Lord Lumley. These printed books do not by any means represent all that Byrd produced at this period of his career. As a composer of music for the virginals—the English equivalent for the spinet—he was indefatigable, and fortunately many collections of these characteristic pieces are still in existence, though but few of them have been printed. The most important are the manuscript in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, wrongly known as ‘Queen Elizabeth's Virginal Book,’ which contains an immense number of Byrd's compositions, and the beautiful manuscript ‘Ladye Nevell's Booke,’ belonging to the Marquis of Abergavenny, which consists entirely of Byrd's virginal lessons, and was copied by John Baldwin, a singing-man of Windsor, who finished the volume on 11 Sept. 1591 (Grove, Dict. of Music, iii. 305 et seq.) In April 1592 Byrd was still living at Harlington, but about 1593 he became possessed of the remainder of a lease of Stondon Place, Essex, an estate belonging to William Shelley, who was shortly afterwards convicted of high treason. The property was sequestrated, and on 15 July 1595 Byrd obtained a crown lease of it for the lives of his eldest son Christopher and his daughters Elizabeth and Rachel. William Shelley, the rightful owner, died about 1601, and his heir paid a large sum for the restoration of his lands in 1604, whereupon Shelley's widow attempted to oust Byrd from Stondon, which formed part of her jointure. This drew from James I a letter of remonstrance (State Papers, Dom.
Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 08.djvu/128
