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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
'''Ye Sacred Muses''' is [[William Byrd]]'s Musical [[elegy]] on the death of his colleague and sometime mentor, [[Thomas Tallis]]. It is scored for 5 vv (usually four [[viol]]s and [[countertenor]]).
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{{No footnotes|date=January 2023}}
'''''Ye Sacred Muses''''' is [[William Byrd]]'s Musical [[elegy]] on the death of his colleague and mentor, [[Thomas Tallis]], in the form of a secular madrigal. It is scored for 5 voices (usually four [[viol]]s and [[countertenor]]), though the vocal part is scored for treble voice, or a cappella SATTB choir.


The words are:-
The words are:-


:Ye sacred Muses, race of Jove,
:Ye sacred [[Muses]], race of [[Jove]],
:whom Music's lore delighteth,
:whom Music's lore delighteth,
:Come down from crystal heav'ns above
:Come down from crystal heav'ns above
:to earth where sorrow dwelleth,
:to earth where sorrow dwelleth,
:In mourning [[weeds]], with tears in eyes:
:In mourning [[Mourning#United Kingdom|weeds]], with tears in eyes:
:Tallis is dead, and Music dies.
:Tallis is dead, and Music dies.


The concluding lines are particularly effective and are repeated. The tonality of the piece is slightly ambiguous, as despite its ending on a D major chord, it never really settles in any one key. Byrd uses the Dorian mode whilst his Renaissance contemporaries generally avoided the use of Medieval modes either by sharpening leading tones or lowering the fourth in the Lydian mode. Byrd's use of the Dorian mode can be seen in the very first phrase of the piece.


==External links==
The concluding lines are particularly effective and are repeated.
*{{ChoralWiki|Ye_sacred_muses_(William_Byrd)|prep=of}}

==Reference==
*[http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Ye_sacred_muses_(William_Byrd) Words and music links] at the [[ChoralWiki]] (requires [[NoteWorthy Composer]])
*[http://jfa.sbcs.qmul.ac.uk/~john/webstar/john/Wolftooth/Music/Muses.html Informal performance by 'Wolftooth' (viol consort and alto)]
*[http://jfa.sbcs.qmul.ac.uk/~john/webstar/john/Wolftooth/Music/Muses.html Informal performance by 'Wolftooth' (viol consort and alto)]

{{William Byrd}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Funerary and memorial compositions]]
[[Category:Compositions by William Byrd]]
[[Category:Thomas Tallis]]
[[Category:Composer tributes (classical music)]]



{{classical-composition-stub}}
{{classical-composition-stub}}
[[Category:Renaissance music]]
[[Category:English music]]

Latest revision as of 01:42, 16 August 2023

Ye Sacred Muses is William Byrd's Musical elegy on the death of his colleague and mentor, Thomas Tallis, in the form of a secular madrigal. It is scored for 5 voices (usually four viols and countertenor), though the vocal part is scored for treble voice, or a cappella SATTB choir.

The words are:-

Ye sacred Muses, race of Jove,
whom Music's lore delighteth,
Come down from crystal heav'ns above
to earth where sorrow dwelleth,
In mourning weeds, with tears in eyes:
Tallis is dead, and Music dies.

The concluding lines are particularly effective and are repeated. The tonality of the piece is slightly ambiguous, as despite its ending on a D major chord, it never really settles in any one key. Byrd uses the Dorian mode whilst his Renaissance contemporaries generally avoided the use of Medieval modes either by sharpening leading tones or lowering the fourth in the Lydian mode. Byrd's use of the Dorian mode can be seen in the very first phrase of the piece.

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