Thomas Tallis And William Byrd Essay

During the 16th century, composers focused mainly on church music since the Renaissance in England started much later than in the rest of Europe. The most popular secular music style was the partsong until innovative composers such as Thomas Tallis and William Byrd paved way beyond three- and four-part homophonic pieces. Thomas Tallis (c. 1505 – 1585) and William Byrd (c. 1540 – 1623) were versatile composers who wrote for the Catholic, Anglican, and Puritan churches alike. Tallis, best known for his motets, psalms, and anthems, was favored by Queen Elizabeth I (1533 – 1603) and is responsible for her favoritism toward his pupil, William Byrd, as well. Byrd was a secretly practicing Catholic who wrote renowned masses, but, like Tallis, catered to other audiences by using both Latin and English texts. …show more content…
Even though Queen Elizabeth, herself, was the face of the Anglican Church, the sophisticated counterpoint style favored by the Catholic Church and the transparent polyphonic style favored by the Puritan Church were both used in the English Royal Chapel. The Virgin Queen’s political situation mandated skilled, adaptable composers because she stood as the peace-making bridge between English people of each Christian sect. With the Queen’s permission to print as much as they wanted, Tallis and Byrd took the opportunity to combine their talents and write the first major collection of music to come out of England: the Cantiones sacrae (1575). Best known for adorning polyphony, counterpoint, and controlled dissonance, Tallis and Byrd used a combination of techniques to make such an impressive sacred, choral collection that came out to be a total of thirty-four pieces upon