Daily Classical Music Post

Throughout September, the Daily Classical Music Post celebrates the music of 15th-, 16th-, and 17th-century England. https://youtu.be/vuf6rCX7D-E William Byrd wrote a set of six variations for virginals on a well-known tune, "All in a Garden Green." It was included in the collection My Lady Nevell's Book (1591), although most people believe that it was written much earlier than that. The words of the popular song on which this was based went something like this: All in a garden green, two lovers sat at ease, As they could scarce be seen above the leafy trees. They lovèd lofty full, and no wronger than truly, In the time of the year cam betwixt May and July. It was very common in the 16th and 17th centuries to write variations on a tune that people would instantly identify. Byrd was a master at this, and this early work shows that. My classical music post for today is William Byrd's "All in a Garden Green."

Throughout September, the Daily Classical Music Post celebrates the music of 15th-, 16th-, and 17th-century England. https://youtu.be/jomZcpqkfUI The great English composer William Byrd (1543–1623) wrote his wonderfully descriptive virginals piece "The Battell" after the great Armada victory of 1588, although most musicologists believe that it is more likely to have been inspired by a smaller skirmish, perhaps an uprising of some sort. Sally Mosher has said of "The Battell": "By the 17th century, battle pieces had become a popular genre, so Byrd can be said to have launched a new keyboard genre in addition to composing the first English keyboard suite. All in C major, sections of ‘The Battle’ are harmonically very simple; for the most part they alternate between the tonic and the dominant, using no more than a handful of chords. Like the march, they often suggest trumpets and drums, but they also quite successfully suggest the sounds of soldiers marching, of ho...