Publisher's Synopsis
This book examines the extent to which William Byrd's compositional methods conform with the precepts of sixteenth-century musical theorists who described the modes and their use. John Harley considers Byrd's early training and the theoretical works he is likely to have known, and goes on to summarize ideas which were current about the hexachord system and the modes. Consideration is also given to whether English musicians thought in modal terms, and the importance in Byrd's works of key and tonality, as distinct from mode. Among the particular aspects of Byrd's practice that are described are the range and shape of his melodies, his choice and placing of cadences in vocal settings, and tonal design. This close examination of how Byrd constructed his music shows him to have been a musician in exceptional command of compositional technique, and one possessed of an outstanding ability to employ it in highly original and imaginative ways to realize his intentions.
