The Paston Manuscripts as Sources of Byrd'S Music

The largest contemporary manuscript collection of William Byrd's works was assembled by the Norfolk gentleman Edward Paston (1550–1630), whose library included at least fifty sets of partbooks, supplemented by around the same number of printed sets, from both Britain and the continent. The manuscript sets include masses, motets, Italian madrigals, French chansons, consort songs and instrumental pieces–almost everything but keyboard and solo lute music. The Byrd holdings contain a large number of otherwise unknown pieces, and early versions of works later published by the composer. Byrd songs mention events in Paston's life, and he seems to have set Paston's verse, too; it is easy to imagine Byrd having knowledge of and access to Paston's manuscript collection, and for Paston accessing the composer's music directly from Byrd's own copies. This study assesses Byrd's main printed collections against the Paston copies of the same music, to trace patterns of transmission and likely use.