If there were an O.G. posse for Renaissance music, William Byrd and his contemporaries would most certainly lead the pack. Byrd wrote extensively for nearly every medium available, and he played a pivotal part in the development of the freely composed fantasia, making him one of the most influential composers of his era.
To honor the maestro on the 400th anniversary year since the Englishman’s death, Houston Chamber Choir will present Byrds of a Feather at 7:30 p.m. on November 11 at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Meyerland. In this step back in time, the choir will perform works by Byrd and his flock of fellow musicians Thomas Weelkes, Orlando Gibbons and Thomas Morely.
(Can we pause for a moment to recognize what a great surname Byrd is?)
“There is quite a bit of interest in the music world, particularly the choral community, in celebrating William Byrd’s tremendous impact,” said Robert Simpson, founder and artistic director for the organization. “He brought English Renaissance music to its greatest heights since its golden age.”
Byrd was born in 1540 and died in 1623. He served five monarchs during his career starting with Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary Tudor, Elizabeth I and then James I. Throughout the course of his life, he had to negotiate some thorny religious issues. As those monarchs changed, so did the religion that was that was imposed on people between Protestantism and Catholicism.
While he remained a devout Catholic throughout his life, we wrote music for both sects of the church, which meant he wrote in both English and Latin to fit the style of whichever religion the piece was designed for.
Likewise, the Houston Chamber Choir’s concert will present a fair representation between the Catholic and the Protestant music for Byrd and his counterparts.
“The Protestant church was very anxious to have the talents of William Byrd and others writing music for this new established church, but at the same time, William wrote for the Catholic Church,” Simpson explains. “The Catholic Church, at that point, had gone underground and these pieces were written to be sung in homes and private small gatherings of, Catholics who came together to worship in a clandestine fashion, lest they draw attention to themselves.”
The choir will bookend the performance with “Spem in alium,” penned by Byrd’s mentor Thomas Tallis. This motet is rarely performed due to its requirement of eight, five-voice choirs for a full 40 choral lines being performed simultaneously.
“It is a high wire act without a net,” Simpson describes, while also mentioning its special place in the annals of choral masterworks. “It is a piece that has drawn admiration and astonishment since it was first performed 450 years ago.”
Simpson drives the point home of just how demanding the piece is by describing the amount of paper required by the conductor of Tallis’ piece.
“The score itself is probably two-and-a-half-feet tall and a foot-and-a-half wide. It has to be supported by a special music stamp there of course are 40 lines of music, and every one of them is as active,” he said.
That’s a challenge for any conductor, but Simpson is prepped for it.
“It is something that I’ve taken very seriously, and of course the goal of a conductor is to be able to hear all of the parts of the piece,” he said. “I am working hard to be able to hear, at any one moment, all 40 parts on the page. I’m just taking it bit by bit . . . measure by measure . . . line by line . . . incorporating the music into my memory so that I can encourage and allow the singers to sing their lines knowing that I’m with them emotionally and musically.”
The Houston Chamber Choir will not be alone in this feat. To pull off this daredevil task, the organization has partnered with members of the University of Houston’s choral program to round out the remaining members of Houston Chamber Choir’s 24-member choir.
It will be a reunion of sorts for the two.
“Dr. Betsy Cook Weber at the University of Houston and I are dear friends, and we love working together. In fact, we have sung this piece together twice,” he added. “Because Tallis was William Byrd’s teacher, his most important ally and colleague, this addition to the program of ‘Spem in alium’ seemed like a perfect way to pay tribute to William Byrd and his associates.”
They may have performed this previously, but there will be one new aspect for this weekend’s performance. It is the group’s first time to perform at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Meyerland.
“It’s a very first time, and I am very glad that we’re able to sing there. Their acoustics are the perfect environment for this Renaissance music,” Simpson said. “We’re thrilled that we’re able to go to St. Thomas. This will be our first time, and I hope not our last.”
Here’s sending a good wish to Houston Chamber Choir as they give Houston the Byrd this weekend.
Chamber Choir will present Byrds of a Feather at 7:30 p.m., November 11 at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 4900 Jackwood. For information or tickets, call 713-224-5566 or visit houstonchamberchoir.org. $10 – $45. A livestream option is available for $25.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
