August 29-September 6, 1998
St. Patrick’s Church in Northwest Portland hosted all Festival events, including Byrd’s Masses for Three, Four and Five Voices. In addition to his pre-concert lecture, Dr. Mahrt spoke on “William Byrd’s Masses and Motets and the Transformation of Genre and Function.” The Festival Concert featured selections from Byrd’s Cantiones sacrae I (1589), Cantiones sacrae II (1591) Gradualia I (1605), and Gradualia II (1607) and motets from 1570 and 1615. The concert ended with a Gala Reception, a tradition that has continued throughout subsequent years.
August 28-September 5, 1999
The Most Rev. Basil Meeking, retired Bishop of Christchurch, New Zealand, joined the Festival in 1999 for two Pontifical High Masses at St. Patrick’s; a Solemn High Mass was celebrated at Northeast Portland’s Holy Rosary Church. Dr. Kerry McCarthy, at that time a Stanford Doctoral candidate writing her dissertation on Byrd’s Gradualia, lectured on “Reform and Revolution in Tudor Church Music”, while Dr. Mahrt returned to give the pre-concert talk and two lectures: “The Masses of William Byrd” and “Things Old and New in the Cantiones sacrae.” Selections from the Cantiones sacrae (1589), a collection of 34 motets written by Byrd and his teacher, Thomas Tallis, were performed in concert at St. Mary’s Cathedral.
August 26th-September 3, 2000
This year saw additions to the festival schedule. Choral Evensong at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral with Byrd’s setting of the Magnificat, Nunc dimittis and anthems was preceded by an organ recital “Byrd’s Sacred Keyboard Pieces, Mark Williams, London. Three Pontifical High Masses at St. Patrick’s Church were celebrated by the Most Rev. Basil Meeking. Lecturers were Dr. McCarthy (“A Composer for All Seasons: Byrd’s Gradualia, Four Hundred Years Later”) and Dr. Mahrt (“Byrd’s Development as a Composer of Cantiones”), with music for this year’s Festival Concert taken from Cantiones sacrae, 1589.
August 25-September 2, 2001
The Byrd Festival was honored to host Dr. Philip Brett, general editor of The Byrd Edition and Distinguished Professor of Musicology at UCLA, whose lecture was entitled “Blame Not the Printer: William Byrd’s Publishing Drive.” Dr. Mahrt was joined by Mr. Williams for his opening Lecture/Demonstration, “William Byrd the Organist: the Context of his Keyboard Music.” Mr. Williams, St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, showcased “Keyboard Pieces of Byrd’s Time” at the Cathedral Parish of St. Mark. Choral Evensong featured Byrd’s Great Service. Beginning this year, the Gregorian Proper for the sung Latin Masses was sung by the boys and girls of Cantores in Ecclesia under the direction of Mr. Applegate. The Festival concluded at St. Patrick’s Church with a concert from Byrd’s second book of Cantiones sacrae (1591).
August 19-September 1, 2002
Mr. Williams returned to Portland from London with fellow musicians David Trendell, King’s College, and Clare Wilkinson, mezzo-soprano. Expanded from one to two weeks, the Fifth Annual William Byrd Festival opened with their Lecture/Vocal Recital “Why do I use my paper, ink and pen?: Context and Meaning in William Byrd’s Consort Songs.” Choral Evensong remained at St. Mark’s Cathedral, once again preceded by Mr. Williams’ recital, “The Flourishing of European Keyboard Music: William Byrd and His Contemporaries in Europe,” with Solemn Latin Masses again celebrated at Holy Rosary and St. Patrick churches. Dr. Mahrt spoke on “Byrd’s Attitude to Text”; music performed in concert was taken from the 1575 Cantiones sacrae.
August 18-31, 2003
Dr. Philip Brett (1937-2002)
A highly regarded musicologist and scholar, Dr. Brett was a great supporter of the Festival and choir. The 2003 William Byrd Festival was dedicated to his memory.
The Festival opened with a Chamber Concert featuring London countertenor, James Laing, and Pacific Northwest Viols. Held in the chapel of the Grotto of Our Sorrowful Mother (also the venue for two of the three sung Masses this year), the concert was titled “Triumph with Pleasant Melody: Consort Songs from 1588 and 1589.” Lectures, moved this year from St. Patrick’s to the campus of Reed College, covered “Byrd’s Musical Recusancy: A Discussion of the Cantiones sacrae of 1589” (Dr. Trendell) and “Grave and Merrie, Major and Minor: Expressive Paradoxes in Byrd’s Cantiones” (Dr. Mahrt). Choral Evensong (Byrd’s Great Service) was preceded by Mr. Williams’ organ recital (“The Spirit of the Dance: Keyboard Works by William Byrd”). The Fifth Annual William Byrd Festival final concert was “Cantiones sacrae and Songs of Sundrie Natures, 1589” at St. Mary’s Cathedral.
August 14-29, 2004
Dr. Kerry McCarthy, now Assistant Professor of Musicology at Duke University, returned to direct the choir in Byrd’s 1605 Gradualia for the Feast of the Assumption. A Chamber Concert, “Fair British Isle: English Songs by William Byrd”, featured Mr. Blake Applegate, tenor and Assistant Director of Cantores in Ecclesia; Ms. Amanda Jane Kelley, soprano; Mr. David Trendell, Baritone; and Mr. Mark Williams, organist. Lectures, again at Reed College, were “Savonarola, Infelix ego, & Byrd” (Dr. Trendell) and “William Byrd’s Art of Melody” (Dr. Mahrt). Mr. Williams’ organ concert, “The Garden of Eloquence: Musick to Delight the Eares”, preceded Choral Evensong (Great Service) at St. Mark’s; sung Latin Masses were at Immaculate Heart, Holy Rosary and the Grotto Chapel. St. Mary’s Cathedral again hosted the final Concert featuring music selected from Byrd’s Cantiones sacrae.
August 13-28, 2005
The Festival was proud to welcome Dr. Joseph Kerman, Emeritus Professor of the University of California, Berkeley, who spoke on “William Byrd, Catholic and Careerist.” Other 2005 lecture topics were “Byrd: The Composer for the Anglican Church” (Mr. Trendell), and “Rose Garlands and Gunpowder: Byrd’s Musical World in 1605.” (Dr. McCarthy); Dr. Mahrt gave the pre-concert lecture. Trinity Episcopal Cathedral hosted Choral Evensong (Byrd’s Great Service) and Mr. Williams’ recital, “Sacred and Profane: the Keyboard Music of William Byrd.” Latin Masses were at Holy Rosary and the Grotto, also the site of the opening Chamber Concert, “Songs of Sundrie Natures: Consort songs and Songs for Three Voices,” featuring Mr. Blake Applegate, tenor, Ms. Jo Routh, alto, Mr. David Trendell, baritone and Mr. Mark Williams, organ. Music from the Gradualia was performed for the final Festival Concert.
August 12-27, 2006
In 2006, Cantores in Ecclesia brought Byrd home to the resonant acoustic of historic St. Patrick’s Church. “How can we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land? Recusant motets from Cantiones sacrae 1589 & 1591,” directed by Mr. Trendell and featuring ten members of the choir and Mr. Williams, harpsichord, was the opening Chamber Concert. The following evening, a Pontifical High Mass for the Vigil of the Feast of the Assumption was celebrated according to the Missal of Paul V, a schola from Cantores in Ecclesia singing the plainsong Ordinary and Proper from Byrd’s 1605 Gradualia under the direction of Dr. McCarthy. Mr. William’s concert, “Flights of Fancie - The Keyboard Music of William Byrd” preceded Choral Evensong (selections from Byrd’s Great Service) at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral. Lectures titles were “The Economy of Byrd’s Gradualia: Process and Style” (Dr. Mahrt); “Byrd’s Masses in the context of sixteenth century settings of the Mass Ordinary” (Mr. Trendell); and “Byrd and Friends” (Dr. McCarthy). The Festival concluded in concert with “More Music from William Byrd’s Gradualia."
When Dean Applegate first proposed to Dr. Richard Marlow, Trinity College, Cambridge, that he conduct Cantores in Ecclesia in a week-long choral festival devoted to the music of William Byrd, the project seemed ambitious. By the close of their conversation, however, both men optimistically decided to proceed, and the First Annual William Byrd Festival was held in Portland, Oregon the last week of August, 1998. Conceived as a marriage of music and scholarship, Dr. William Mahrt of Stanford University agreed to participate in the planning process and prepare two public lectures. The choir would perform Byrd’s Mass settings within the context of three Latin liturgies, with the week culminating in a Sacred Concert of Byrd motets and keyboard pieces featuring Cantores in Ecclesia and its resident organist, Delbert Saman. Choosing music for the liturgies was simple; Renaissance England’s most celebrated composer only wrote three Masses. Selecting concert pieces from Byrd’s vast treasury of sacred and secular work was more challenging, given the prolific genius of this consummate Renaissance composer. The Festival was a success. Encouraged, planning began for the following year after which the Oregonian heralded the William Byrd Festival as a “valuable addition to Portland” (September 7, 1999). Cantores in Ecclesia, approaching its 25th anniversary in 2008, is proud to have sponsored Portland’s William Byrd Festival for this past decade. With so much of Byrd’s music yet unsung, it looks forward to many more years under the gifted leadership of Dr. Marlow, Festival Conductor, and Festival Founder and Director, Mr. Applegate. 