Byrd Tour 2012

Our landmark Byrd Tour drew to a close at St John’s, Smith Square, on Wednesday 19th December 2012.  Byrd has been a major feature of our concerts for many years and the 2012 tour presented almost every note of Latin church music (and some English as well!) in a series of concerts around the UK.  Each programme explored a different aspect of Byrd’s masterful compositions, including his Masses and moving through the liturgical year in sequence. Launched at the Wigmore Hall in March, the tour took us to major festivals and concert venues across the UK, including venues as far afield as the Orkney Islands in Scotland and St David’s in Wales, as well as St George’s, Bristol, St Barnabas Church, Oxford, the Howard Assembly Rooms in Leeds, festivals in Brighton, Winchester, Lammermuir and Canterbury, and historic locations such as Fotheringhay Church, Stondon Massey and Arundel Cathedral.

“This is music of the highest quality which has the power to move both the heart and the mind. I find William Byrd’s music to be the most impassioned of all composers across Europe and into the New World. This touring programme gives The Cardinall’s Musick an opportunity to take Byrd around the country, to showcase his passion and to place him in context as the most important musician of the Tudor age.”  Andrew Carwood