Category: Byrd, William (1539/1540-1623)

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Genesis 3: 19b [Latin] – [Remember O Man] In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Original Latin:

Memento homo, quod cinis es, et in cinerem reverteris.

Ashes imposed on the forehead of a Christian on Ash Wednesday
Ashes imposed on the forehead of a Christian on Ash Wednesday

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“Memento homo,” a 6-voice, sacred motet composed by William Byrd (1539-1623), and first published in Cantiones quae ab argumento sacrae vocantur, no. 18 (1575)

Performed by Alamire, directed by David Skinner

Free sheet music at Choral Public Domain Library

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Psalm 95:1-2 [Latin] – O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.

Original Latin:
Venite, exsultemus Domino; jubilemus Deo salutari nostro; praeoccupemus faciem ejus in confessione, et in psalmis jubilemus ei:

Detail of an 18th-century posthumous engraving of William Byrd by Gerard Vandergucht, after Niccolò Haym.
Detail of an 18th-century posthumous engraving of William Byrd by Gerard Vandergucht, after Niccolò Haym. 

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“Venite exultemus Domino,” a sacred, 6-voice motet that originally appeared in Gradualia II (1607), composed by William Byrd (1539/1540-1623)

Venite exultemus Domino, by William Byrd (ca.1540-1623)

Performed here by Quire Cleveland

Free sheet music at Choral Public Domain Library

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Psalm 117: 1-2 – Praise our Lord all ye Gentiles, praise him all ye people, Because his mercy is confirmed upon us, and his truth remaineth for ever. Amen.

First verse of Psalm 117 on Moravian Church bell, Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas USVI
First verse of Psalm 117 on Moravian Church bell, Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas USVI (Image via Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.)

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“Praise our Lord all ye Gentiles,” sacred anthem composed by William Byrd (1539/1540-1623), and first published in Psalmes, Songs, and Sonnets, no. 29 (1611)

VOCES8: Praise Our Lord by William Byrd

Performed by VOCES8

Free sheet music at Choral Public Domain Library

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Jeremiah 13:17-18 [Latin] – Weeping [my soul] shall weep, and mine eye shall drop tears, because the flock of our Lord is taken. Say to the king, and to her that ruleth: Be humbled, sit down: because the crown of your glory is come down from your head.

Plorans plorabit, et deducet oculus meus lachrimas meas, quia captus est grex Domini. Dic regi et dominatrici, humiliamini, sedete, quoniam descendit de capite vestro corona gloriae vestrae.

Jeremiah on the ruins of Jerusalem - by Horace Vernet (1789–1868)
Jeremiah on the ruins of Jerusalem – by Horace Vernet (1789–1868) [Image via Wikimedia Commons]

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Plorans plorabit, motet first published in Gradualia I, no. 28 (1605), composed by William Byrd (1539/1540-1623)

Sung by The Byrd Ensemble

Free sheet music at Choral Public Domain Library