Consider it a belated tribute to William Byrd.
Byrd died 400 years ago, on July 4, 1623. I think it’s understandable that as an American – especially one born on the Fourth – I would have let the observance slip by, at a time when my head would have been a tug-of-war between fireworks and regret.
Byrd is one albatross I will finally be able to address, this weekend on “The Lost Chord.”
A “Gentleman of the Chapel Royal,” Byrd was one of the best loved and certainly one of the most powerful musicians in England. In 1575, Queen Elizabeth granted him and Thomas Tallis – who had been a “Gentleman” from the time of Henry VIII – a 21-year monopoly on polyphonic music and a patent to print and publish music.
Not incidentally, Byrd has his own fireworks connection. Despite his favored status within the Anglican Church, he converted to Catholicism, and even rubbed shoulders with Robert Catesby. Catesby formulated the Gunpowder Plot to blow up Parliament in 1605, during the reign of James I, for which Guy Fawkes gained his undying notoriety.
Though Byrd was never imprisoned for his religion, he was involved in numerous lawsuits and subjected to heavy fines. Elizabeth interceded on his behalf at least once. He participated in illegal services, and the texts he chose to set to music could, at times, have a subversive edge. In particular, as a Catholic in a Protestant country, he became fond of texts related to persecution. Comparatively speaking, he went unmolested, because of his record of allegiance to the crown.
Glancing through my recorded shows, I note that Byrd makes a substantial appearance on one of them, by way of Gordon Jacob.
Jacob, born in 1895, is perhaps best remembered these days as an orchestrator. He did a popular arrangement for full orchestra of Vaughan Williams’ “English Folk Song Suite,” originally composed for symphonic band; he orchestrated Sir Edward Elgar’s Organ Sonata; and his arrangement of the ballet “Les Sylphides” has been eclipsed only by that of Roy Douglas.
But he was also a prolific composer himself. In all, he wrote some 400 works. In fact, when weighing the size of his output against his reputation, it’s tempting to underestimate – as the Angel did his Biblical namesake – Jacob’s tenacity.
We’ll hear an example of his talent as an arranger, the “William Byrd Suite,” after virginal pieces by the Elizabethan master. The work was Jacob’s contribution to the celebrations in 1923 surrounding the tercentenary of Byrd’s death. The balance of the program will be devoted to one of his original compositions, the rarely-heard Symphony No. 1, dedicated to the memory of his brother, who died during the First World War.
We’ll grapple with the range of Jacob’s accomplishments, even as I wing it with an impromptu tribute to Byrd, on “Wrestling Jacob,” this Saturday on “The Lost Chord,” now in syndication on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon.
For streaming information, see below.
Keep in mind, KWAX is on the West Coast, so there’s a three-hour difference for the Trenton-Princeton area. Here are the respective air-times of my recorded shows (with East Coast conversions in parentheses):
PICTURE PERFECT, the movie music show – Friday on KWAX at 5:00 PACIFIC TIME (8:00 PM EDT)
THE LOST CHORD, unusual and neglected rep – Saturday on KWAX at 4:00 PACIFIC TIME (7:00 PM EDT)
Stream them here!
https://kwax.uoregon.edu/
IMAGES (left to right): Jacob, Byrd, and Jacob
BONUS: Follow the link for a witty survey ranking the various depictions of Jacob wrestling the angel in Western Art!
https://the-toast.net/2014/09/16/famous-paintings-jacob-wrestling-angel-ranked-much-actions-resemble-slow-dancing/?fbclid=IwAR2IEewoVZtSngyVhY0VkprxjtH8x7oLoaJJf70Ye29G1Q1YfjKPKPP-EUA
