In his later life William Byrd (c1540-1623) was as involved in litigation (relating to his religious beliefs as a Catholic in an aggressively Protestant environment) as he was in music. He was also quite famous for being unusually old.

In my view Byrd was the outstanding musician of his time – a brilliant composer of keyboard music, chamber music for viol consort, solo songs, madrigals and sacred music in English and Latin. Continue reading →