Byrd was held in great veneration by all the English musicians of his own day, and, although there is little evidence to prove it, his fame must have spread also to the continent of Europe. It is known that he corresponded with Philip de Monte, and it cannot be doubted that other famous musicians outside England knew something of his work. Baldwin's poem 1 says of him, 'And farre to strange countries abroade his skill dothe shyne'.

Byrd must have stepped into fame in his own country very early in his career. He was little more than thirty years old when he and Tallis published jointly their set of Cantiones Sacrae in 1575. By that time he was already regarded as sharing with Tallis the leadership of English music. Exceptionally skilled, as he undoubtedly was, he may nevertheless be reckoned fortunate to have earned such fame while so young. Various reasons may be suggested for this success. As a pupil of Tallis his abilities would have been recognized from childhood. If he was a chorister of the Chapel Royal, as seems highly probable, he may have laid the foundations of his reputation as a boy soloist, not indeed in the Chapel itself, for solo singing had not yet been introduced as a feature of Church music; but there were opportunities in secular surroundings for a boy soloist to earn distinction, notably in connexion with the drama. It is more than likely that in early youth he wrote music that was performed at the services in the Chapel Royal, just as Purcell did a century later. As an executant he had already marked himself out in early manhood as one of the most brilliant performers of the day on the organ and the virginal.

This book provides us with a biography of Byrd and an analysis of his compositions.