Renaissance · 1605
Ave verum corpus
W. Byrd
- Key
- F
- Time
- C
- Tempo
- ♩=56
- AO focus
- AO3
Incipit
Form
Motet for SATB from Byrd's 'Gradualia' — the cycle of Catholic motets he published despite Anglican England's penal laws against Catholic worship. Through-composed, moderate length (~4 minutes).
Teaching points
- Recusant context — Byrd was a Catholic working in Protestant England. The 'Gradualia' was published privately for clandestine domestic worship
- Compare with Mozart's Ave verum K. 618 — same text, two centuries apart, very different settings
- AO3: politics and music — does the persecution context show in Byrd's setting?
Full score ↓Public domain
Score: CPDL multiple editions, public domain.