Tallis & Byrd: Masses for Uncertain Times

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New York Polyphony returns to Miller’s series with a performance of Tallis and Byrd’s uniquely intimate masses for four voices. Written during a time of religious turbulence in England, these settings of the traditional Latin mass text were intended for modest forces and favor a beautifully simple, straightforward style. Composed late in the 16th century, Byrd’s mass was an act of courage, written for secret use by fellow Catholics forced underground by the prevailing monarchy. The program is rounded out with a handful of brief sacred works from the 15th century to the present.