Welcome to our Festival blog

We are a small congregation commemorating the 400th anniversary of the death of the village's Elizabethan composer, William Byrd (c.1540 - 1623).

We are planning to erect a permanent memorial to Byrd to mark the quatercentenary since his death, and have begun a fundraising appeal. Our events this year have included a talk on The Life and Times of William Byrd (30 June), including book release; a Commemorative Service of BCP Evensong (2 July); and, welcomed The Stondon Singers who gave a sell-out William Byrd Anniversary Concert on the actual day (4 July). Stondon Massey has also featured on BBC Radio 3's 'Composer of the Week' programme (3-7 July).

This website contains everything you need to know about William Byrd's life and music as well as his links with Stondon Massey. /

Wednesday, 5 July 2023

Crowds Flock to William Byrd 400th Anniversary Concert

 The Stondon Singers held a special concert at St Peter and St Paul Church, Stondon Massey last night (Tuesday 4 July) to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of William Byrd (c1540-1623) in the parish where he lived. The calendar seemed coincidentally arranged because the singers, formed in 1968 to sing the great composer's work, always have the first Tuesday in July for the Anniversary Concert.

Hilary Punnett is now their conductor having now led for a season, and this was her first at Stondon Massey.

The programme, entitled 'Patronage and Persecution' considered the theme of royal patronage throughout the ages as well as pieces which reflected the persecution Byrd faced as a recusant Catholic.

The pieces performed were:

Byrd: Vigilate

Thomas Tallis (1505-1585): Miserere nostri

Judith Weir (b. 1954): Love bade me welcome

Andrew Balfour (b. 1967): Ambe

Byrd: In winter cold (prima pars), and Whereat an ant (secunda pars)

Byrd: Tristitia et anxietas

Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625): O clap your hands together

interval

Byrd: Sing Joyfully

J.F. Woolley: Rest

Byrd: Miserere mei

Andrew Balfour: Vision Chant

Robert Carver (1485-1570): Missa dum sacrum mysterium - Sanctus

Robert Parsons (1535-1572): Ave Maria

Byrd: Haec dies

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