Chorus Ecclesiae presents Byrd’s ‘Gradualia’ at Newman College

In honour of the 400th anniversary of William Byrd’s death this year and his significant contributions to liturgical music, Chorus Ecclesiae proudly presents a performance of a selection of four-part motets from his Gradualia at Newman College’s Chapel of the Holy Spirit.

William Byrd’s Gradualia is one of the most elaborate musical works of the English Renaissance period. This music was written at a time when Byrd was a recusant Catholic in Protestant England for Masses that were celebrated in secret.

Consisting mostly of the Liturgical Propers for for each of the principal feasts of the Roman Church year, as well as for the votive Masses of the Blessed Virgin and the Holy Sacrament, this work is rarely performed.