William Byrd, lived in the Golden age of English music. he was born in Lincoln (according to some historians)in 1543 were he spent some time as a organist when he was young.

He then became a member of the Chapel Royal, at the same time he became the joint organist with Tallis. In 1575, the two were given the rights to print music thus giving him and Tellis a virtual monopoly in printing music, we must remember that Byrd was a Roman Catholic in a now Protestant country, but he was left unmolested by the turmoil that surrounded England in those days of Religious persecution.

It could have been because Byrd wrote music for the Anglican services as well as his masses for the Catholic Church. One of Byrds masterpieces for the Anglican church was entitled simply Great Service. He had Royal letters patent conferring upon him a monopoly over printed music.

He publish his motets "Cantiones Sacrae",in 1585, the same year that tallis died. Byrd assign his share in the lease for printing music to Thomas Easte. Eastes then published Byrd's Palsms and Sonnets(1588), Songs of Sundrie Nature in 1589, and later two volumes of Cantiones Sacrae plus two books entitled Graduals (1605 and 1607) with another volume of Psalms Sonnets (1611). Byrd died in London in 1623