The Life and Times of William Byrd: A Local History

A talk written especially for the occasion by our church historian, and presented by local people, to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the great composer of the first Elizabethan age who lived in semi-retirement at Stondon Place in Stondon Massey and is believed to have been buried , here, in the parish churchyard. 

Byrd was a high flier keeping company with influential patrons as well as Jesuit priests and plotters. We will consider his friendship with the Petre family, and how he could have possibly published Gradualia in the year of the Gunpowder Plot. We will also pay tribute to Revd. Reeve, the Rector of Stondon Massey, who did much to bring Byrd's life to prominence a hundred years ago. (The illustration is the Tercentenary Memorial inside Stondon Massey Church.)

The evening will release a book containing a longer version of the script.