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William Byrd: A Shakespearean Age Composer

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William Byrd A Shakespearean Age Composer Born in London, England, William Byrd would become one of the most famous composers in England's history. At the age of seven, young William was taught how to compose music by a man named Thomas Tallis while in a royal group called the Chapel Royal, which was a group of priests and religious leaders who played music for the King and Queen. He started his career in 1563 at the Lincoln Cathedral where he was the Master of Children and an organist, a job that he shared with Thomas. As he grew up, he became so good at his skill of composing music that he became a gentlemen of the Chapel Royal. This connection to royalty made him well known for his skill and noblemen became his patrons. As a Roman-Catholic in a Protestant England, he often bothered the authorities at the time, but the amount of trust he had in the government and his great composing skill made him a respected figure and one of the most famous people in England's history.
William was born in London to Thomas and Margery Byrd. Thomas Byrd was of the lower branches of the English gentry, but this did not matter at all to William Byrd. The date of …show more content…

He met the famed Thomas Tallis again at the Chapel Royal and William shared his work as an organist with him. Byrd's partnership with Tallis caused his time at the Chapel Royal to be very productive and fulfilling. His position as a gentleman and his relationship with the famed Thomas Tallis at the Chapel Royal gave him the opportunity to create many compositions. By 1575 Queen Elizabeth I granted both of them the high job of running the important business of printing and importing music paper and publishing music. Thomas and Byrd printed and published their first work which appeared in the same year that the queen gave them their job; it was a collection of 34 motets dedicated entirely to the

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