Talk:William Byrd

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B This article has been rated as B-Class on the project's quality scale. [FAQ]

I'm not trying to be funny, clever, rude, dismissive of others' efforts etc etc etc. BUT, I'm just thinking, is this article better than nothing? I mean, I suppose it is, and you can fillet out of it quite a lot of useful info, but really, the style, the irrelevant content (e.g. Byrd's problems with property ownership ...) I just don't know. Obviously it must have worked for a 1911 audience but I do have serious doubts about how useful it is now. And yes I know the obvious Wikipedian answer is that I ought to rewrite it, thank you very much, but I don't have time and I know NOTHING about Byrd except he wrote TITROJ and that's about it, so it's not me! (Maybe it's you, dear reader!) But I do like a good moan. So what do you think - better than nothing??? Nevilley 10:32 Nov 30, 2002 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Byrd revisions

As noted in the revision history, I've (foolishly?) decided to flush the 1911 encyclopedia article on Byrd and replace it with something else. This is a potted biography I wrote for some recent concert notes, which I'm happy to see go into the public domain. The main focus of the concert was B's Latin sacred music, so the bio dwells on that more than on his equally worthy English and instrumental music. Please bring your additions, deletions, merciless edits, etc.

Camembert: I was skeptical at first about the revised birthdate, but it's genuine. See John Harley, William Byrd: Gentleman of the Chapel Royal (1997), and the newest edition of the Grove Dictionary of Music.

Nevilley: Isn't TITROJ by Gibbons? Still good fun for us altos though.

Any input is appreciated. Kerry <kmccarth@duke.edu>

Wow! Major major MAJOR improvement! Well done!
And yes it is by Gibbons, I can't believe I wrote that, I shall plead drunkenness if it ever goes to court. It's particularly sad when you note the context: I know NOTHING about Byrd except he wrote TITROJ - well, DUH, as my children say, and indeed DUH again. (Actually I think I may have been thinking of Ne Irascaris which is my other favourite peice of music of that time, but it does show you how badly misfiled things can get. Oh and now I suppose someone will tell me that actually NI is by, I don't know, Hildergard or Ligeti or someone, and on it goes ... ) But back to Byrd - this is a great article and congrats on it. --Nevilley 11:21, 30 May 2004 (UTC)
Yes, a great improvement, and thanks for the note on his birthdate. --Camembert
Best composer article I've read on Wikipedia. And I've found quite a few which could do with similarly drastic treatment... Wilus 09:08, 15 Sep 2004 (UTC)
I am not a Byrd expert by any means but this article does seem to me to be passable but not much more. It does leave a lot out, as someone noted, and most of it still has the somewhat superficial feel of basic program notes. (Not that there's anything wrong with that...) I would expand it but as I say this is not my area of expertise, just an area of great interest and experience as a performer. --Wspencer11 (talk to me...) 17:35, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Books

I'm doing a project on William Byrd. Does anyone know some of his works, and if any of them are on print.google.com or another website for free? Also, I would appreciate any information about Colonial Literature in reference to William Byrd. Thanks

A. Mirza

[edit] elegy on the death of tallis

The article should make some mention that Byrd wrote Elegy on the Death of Tallis given the close relationship they had.

[edit] Birth year

On a CD I just bought, the birth year of William Bird (that's how they spelt it) is 1543. I don't know where they got this year, but perhaps they were right?

Mm, I've seen on a couple of different sites (stainer.co.uk and classical.net) that his birth year is listed as 1539. RedZionX 04:31, 5 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Under Elizabeth and James

It was a minor edit, but still felt that previous wording allowed for anachronistic modern bias. I removed the "staunchly" in front of "protestant" in describing Elizabeth's political and religious disposition. Describing Edward as "staunchly" is correct; describing Elizabeth as such ignores recent scholarship. Gmdisalvo 02:39, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

This article is unbalanced and in serious need of updating. There is a heavy concentration on Byrd's biography and on the (admittedly important) topic of his relationship to the religion and politics of his day. But tthere is far too little crittical discussion of the music itself, and the instrumental music and the many English songs of various descriptions are hardly discussed at all. I might have a go at recttifying matters sometime in the nextt few weeks if nobody minds. —Preceding unsigned comment added by D Humphreys (talk • contribs) 18:41, 28 November 2007 (UTC)