Byrd – Mass for Three Voices (c.1595)

Byrd’s masses were composed in the 1590s (most likely between 1592 and 1595) for secret Catholic services in Protestant England.

This is the age of the Spanish Armada and the Gunpowder Plot – did he ever think that one day his works would form part of a the staple musical diet of the country’s cathedrals and churches?

They are uniquely ‘English’ in style, not sounding like his continental contemporaries such as Palestrina or Victoria, and they don’t quote any other material – they seem almost through-composed, reacting to the text as it unfolds.

The setting for three voices came a year after that for four voices – the three voice mass is succinct, small work.