William Byrd

English composer (ca. 1540-1623)

William Byrd (c. 1540 – 4 July 1623) was an English Renaissance composer. Considered among the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he had a profound influence on composers both from his native country and on the Continent. He is often considered along with John Dunstaple and Henry Purcell as one of England's most important composers of early music.

Byrd wrote in many of the forms current in England at the time, including various types of sacred and secular polyphony, keyboard (the so-called Virginalist school), and consort music. He produced sacred music for Anglican services, but during the 1570s became a Roman Catholic, and wrote Catholic sacred music later in his life.

Read more about this composer on Wikipedia.

Works

Box sets & recent recordings

Byrd: Complete Harpsichord and Organ Music — William Byrd, Pieter-Jan Belder (2023) box set · 154 tracks Spotify
Byrd: The Complete Keyboard Music — William Byrd, Davitt Moroney (1999) box set · 138 tracks Spotify
The Tallis Scholars Sing William Byrd — William Byrd, Peter Phillips, The Tallis Scholars (2007) box set · 67 tracks Spotify
Byrd: My Ladye Nevells Booke (1591) (Complete) — William Byrd, Elizabeth Farr (2007) box set · 50 tracks Spotify
William Byrd & John Bull: The Visionaries of Piano Music — Kit Armstrong (2021) box set · 33 tracks Spotify
William Byrd: Essential Works — William Byrd, Various Artists (2023) box set · 30 tracks Spotify
William Byrd: Complete Keyboard Works, Vol. 2 — William Byrd, Claudio Colombo (2026) Spotify
William Byrd: Complete Keyboard Works, Vol. 1 — William Byrd, Claudio Colombo (2025) Spotify

Box sets & recent releases via Spotify — surfaced automatically, not editorial picks.