William Byrd Poems

William Byrd
William Byrd (between 1534 and 1543 – 4 July 1623) was an English composer of the Renaissance. He lived until well into the seventeenth century without writing music in the new Baroque fashion, but his keyboard works are said to have marked the beginning of the Baroque organ and harpsichord style. William Byrd was born in 1543, probably in Lincoln. The date 1543 comes from his will, in which he describes himself as being in his eightieth year of life. The will is dated 15 November 1622, which would mean he was born between 14 November 1542 and 14 November 1543. However the statement about his age refers only to when he started writing his will. At this time in history, it might have taken several months, to several years to complete a will. Therefore he may have been eighty in 1619 and taken 3 years to complete his will. Byrd drafted a deposition on or near 15 November 1598. In the deposition he is described (in someone else's handwriting) as "58 yeares or ther abouts". This would give a date of birth near the end of 1539 or in 1540. In that he case he could not possibly have been the "Wyllyam Byrd" who became a chorister in Westminster Abbey in 1543, though some sources have decided that Byrd must have been born even earlier, in 1534, in order to make this possible. The idea that he was born in Lincoln derives from the fact that the name "Byrd" is rare, and is found in that area. If he really was the "Wyllyam Byrd" at Westminster in 1543, then he is likely to have been born in London, not Lincoln. He must have been born sometime between 1534 and 1543, in Lincoln or London.


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