Keeping the Byrd in Captivity
Ever since I studied the great composer William Byrd last July for the 400th anniversary of his death, I can’t help punning his name, with the music of the sparrows, meadowlarks, and phoebes as I drive along country roads with windows down and Renaissance polyphony turned up. William Byrd is certainly one of the all-star composers from Elizabethan England. Any list of “top five” or “top 10”…