'Whom Music's lore delighteth': words-and-music in Byrd's Ye sacred Muses - August 2003
As part of a series of 'close readings' paying tribute to John Stevens and Philip Brett, Mike Smith's article in the August 2003 issue of Early Music focuses on the relationship between words and music in Byrd's consort song Ye sacred Muses, an elegy for Thomas Tallis. By exploring the rhetorical effects of imitative and motivic devices, Smith shows how Byrd weaves a fabric 'steeped in grief' that prepares the listener for the climax of both poem and song: 'Tallis is dead'.
The score of Ye sacred Muses is reproduced as ex.1 in Early Music xxxi/1 pp.427-431. You can listen to a recording of the piece by clicking on the following link. For their performance, Phantasm have chosen a higher pitch than that of the published edition, taking their lead from a manuscript copy of their song (London, British Library, MS Add. 31992).
- Ye sacred Muses, William Byrd [3.9MB]
Recorded by Phantasm (tenor: Ian Partridge) on Simax PSC 1191 'Byrd song: songs and consorts by William Byrd'.
By kind permission of Phantasm and Simax
Back to soundclips and facsimiles links page.