Vigilate

William Byrd was an English Renaissance composer and considered among the great composers of the Renaissance. He had a profound influence on composers both from his native country and on the Continent. 

The many clear borrowings from the Italian madrigal tradition that colour William Byrd’s lively Vigilate (probably dating from early in his career) suggest it was perhaps aimed at less directly religious circles, and could even be interpreted as a warning to his fellow recusant Catholics to ‘keep watch’ against spies. The word-painting throughout is vivid and detailed; listen for the ascending motif at ‘an galli cantu’ representing a cock crowing, the slowing harmonic pulse and lulling suspensions that accompany the sleeping faithful at ‘dormientes’, and the sudden coming together of the voice parts at ‘omnibus dico’ (‘I say to all’).

Score: 11 pages. 5 parts @ 2 pages ea.