Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 4.djvu/589

BYRD. a lease for three lives of Stondon Place, an estate in Essex, which had been sequestrated from one William Shelley, who was committed to the Fleet for taking part in an alleged Popish plot. Shelley died about 1601, and in 1604 his heir paid a large sum of money for the restoration of his lands, whereupon his widow attempted to regain possession of Stondon, which formed part of her jointure. But Byrd was still under the protection of the Court, and James I. ordered Mrs. Shelley to allow him to enjoy quiet possession of the property. In spite of this, on Oct. 27, 1608, Mrs. Shelley presented a petition to the Earl of Salisbury, praying for the restoration of Stondon, and setting forth eight grievances against the composer. From these it seems that Byrd went to law in order to compel her to ratify the crown lease, but being unsuccessful he combined with the individuals who held her other jointure lands to enter into litigation with her, and when all these disputes had been settled, and finally 'one Petiver' submitted, 'the said Bird did give him vile and bitter words,' and when told that he had no right to the property, declared 'that yf he could not hould it by right, he would holde it by might'; that he had cut down much timber, and for six years had paid no rent. Probably Mrs. Shelley died soon after this, for both Byrd's son and grandson retained possession of the estate. This glimpse of the composer's private life does not present him in a very amiable character, but the most curious part of the matter is that while he was actually in the possession, under a crown lease, of lands confiscated from a Catholic recusant, and also held an appointment in the Protestant Chapel Royal, both he and his family were undoubtedly Catholics, and as such were not only regularly presented in the Archidiaconal Court of Essex from 1605 to 1612, and probably later, but since the year 1598 had been excommunicated by the same ecclesiastical body. A modus vivendi under these circumstances must have been rather difficult, and Byrd can only have remained secure from more serious consequences by the protection of powerful friends. To this he evidently alludes in the dedication to the Earl of Northampton of the first book of his 'Gradualia,' in which he says, 'Te habui … in amictis familiæ meæ rebus benignissimum patronum.' In 1600 some of Byrd's virginal music was published in 'Parthenia.'

Morley, in his 'Introduction' (ed. 1597, p. 115), mentions how Byrd, 'never without reverence to be named of the musicians,' and Alfonso Ferabosco the elder, had a friendly contention, each setting a plainsong forty different ways. It was no doubt this work which was published on Oct. 15, 1603, by Easte, under the following title: 'Medulla Musicke. Sucked out of the sappe of Two [of] the most famous Musitians that euer were in this land, namely Master Wylliam Byrd … and Master Alfonso Ferabosco … either of whom having made 4Otie aeverall waies (without contention), shewing most rare and intricate skill in 2 partes in one vpon the playne songe "Miserere." The which at the request of a friend is most plainly sett in severall distinct partes to be sunge (with moore ease and vnderstanding of the lesse skilfull), by Master Thomas Robinson, etc.' Unfortunately no copy of this work is known to be extant, and the existence of it was only revealed by the publication of the entry in the Stationers' Registers. In 1607 appeared the first and second books of the 'Gradualia,' a complete collection of motets for the ecclesiastical year of the Catholic Church, including (in the first book) a setting for three voices of the words allotted to the crowd in the Passion according to St. John. The first book is dedicated to the Earl of Northampton; the second to Lord Petre. A second edition of both books appeared in 1610. In 1611 was issued 'Psalmes, Songs, and Sonnets: some solemne, others joyfull, framed to the life of the Words: Fit for Voyces or Viols, etc.' This was dedicated to the Earl of Cumberland, and contains a quaint address 'to all true louers of Musicke,' in which, after commending 'these my last labours,' he proceeds: 'Onely this I desire; that you will be but as carefull to heare them well expressed, as I haue beene both in the Composing and correcting of them. Otherwise the best Song that euer was made will seeme harsh and vnpleasant, for that the well expressing of them, either by Voyces, or Instruments, is the life of our labours, which is seldome or neuer well performed at the first singing or playing. Besides a song that is well and artificially made cannot be well perceiued nor vnderstood at the first hearing, but the oftner you shall heare it, the better cause of liking you will discouer: and commonly that Song is best esteemed with which our eares are best acquainted.' In 1614 Byrd contributed four anthems to Sir William Leighton's 'Teares or Lamentacions of a Sorrowfull Soule.' These were his last published composition. He died, probably at Stondon, on July 4, 1623, his death being recorded in the Chapel Royal Cheque Book as that of a 'Father of Musicke,' a title which refers both to his great age and to the veneration with which he was regarded by his contemporaries. In addition to the works of Byrd's which have been already mentioned, he wrote three masses for 3, 4, and 5 voices respectively. These were all printed, but copies of the first and second have disappeared, and only a single copy of the third is known to exist. Printed copies of the two first can be traced down to the sale of Bartleman's Library in 1822, since when they have vanished, though the mass for three voices is fortunately preserved in MS. copies in Immyns's handwriting recently found in the British Museum and Fitzwilliam Libraries. It has always been assumed that Byrd's masses must have been written during the reign of Queen Mary, when he was a boy, but the fact that he remained all his life a Catholic and continued to compose music for the Catholic ritual renders the assumption extremely improbable, especially since the two extant masses themselves show