Byrd

Byrd (sometimes spelt BIRDE), WILLIAM, an English composer, was born in 1538, studied under Tallis, became organist of Lincoln in 1563, was appointed a gentleman of Queen Elizabeth's Chapel-royal in 1569, and died 4th July 1623. The composer of the first English madrigals (1588), he wrote much sacred music (including the well-known canon Non Nobis, Domine), as well as largely for the virginal.