4/14/20

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William Byrd (1539/40-1623)

While most of the pieces which I have selected for my posts were written during or after the Romantic era, I knew that at some point I wanted to write about a piece that is much older. Today’s piece was written by the British Renaissance composer William Byrd. Byrd was among the most prolific of composers in this era, alongside composers like Thomas Tallis, Claudio Monteverdi, Orlande de Lassus, and (perhaps most famous of them all) Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. All of these composers were masters of polyphonic vocal writing, with counterpoint skills that are still worth significant study almost 500 years later. The work of Byrd’s which I decided to talk about is his Infelix ego, a six part, multi-sectional motet written in 1591. It is truly hard to find a work of William Byrd’s which seems to not live up to his reputation, but this one in particular seems to showcase his incredible control of velocity and clarity of sound even with several voices in polyphony.

Infelix ego, which translates from Latin to “Alas, wretch that I am” is a meditation written by Girolamo Savonarola, an Italian friar following extreme torture that would in time lead to his execution. Written almost 100 years before Byrd would set the text, the piece of sacred writing would also be set by many other composers of the Renaissance era. Byrd’s setting came at a time when he was composing numerous motets to be dedicated to the lords of Queen Elizabeth’s court. This connection to the court brings me to Byrd’s identity as a Catholic, which became a source of friction between him and English royalty of his time, which was Protestant. Byrd’s capacity as a composer - and a composer that even with his own beliefs, tolerated others - was what likely ensured his safety and employment for much of his life.

The historical importance surrounding Byrd’s career aside, we can now look at the genius of his writing. Composers of the Renaissance did not write music with much intention for the “vertical” effect of the music, meaning that their music was written almost entirely based on melody and counterpoint, with harmony as a product of individual lines. With that in mind, some elements of the music perhaps become more clear, with maybe the most important of those elements being how well each voice works independently. While there are some moments in this piece of homophony, where all of the voices come together on the same rhythm, much of the music is polyphonic with the voices moving independently. To me, this polyphony seems to make the music float around harmonies, with the individual lines creating localized peaks and valleys. The texture creates a sense of movement throughout, and Byrd (as the genius that he is) is very careful to utilize this movement to form a sense of direction, landing, and continuation. Without this variation of texture, the piece would quickly become a moving mass (forgive the pun) of sound that rolls aimlessly down a hill with no cadence to stop it.

In one final thought, I’d like to just say how much I admire the logic of not just Infelix ego, but a large majority of the music to come out of this period of history. The careful interaction of voices in this music is what gives it clarity, with dissonances being approached and moved away from with extreme delicacy. In my class which acted as a crash course in vocal and choral writing, the study of 16th century counterpoint was crucial. In truth, the rules of voice leading and counterpoint in the Renaissance would be worthy of its very own semester-long course. So, while music eventually moved away from this style of composition, the foundation which was developed by composers like William Byrd continues to be important to composers today. So even as I inevitably connect this music to the academic study of music, I’d like to not lose sight of how wonderful the aural effect of the music is. Infelix ego, in light of the poignant origin of the text, showcases just how pure, beautiful, and logical vocal music can be. This is the sort of music that transcends conflict and drama, with localized moments of tension releasing simply and satisfyingly in a way that could only be described as blissful. Below is a recording of Infelix ego which is accompanied by the score - and while the piece may be a relic, hopefully it will serve as a reminder of how much musical style can develop in the time-span of just a few centuries.