Christopher Tye

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Life

Born: c.1505

Died: 1572/3

Biography:

Christopher Tye commenced a Batchelor in Music at Cambridge in 1536 and from 1537–8 sang as a lay clerk in the choir of King's College, Cambridge. He was awarded the Cambridge degree of Doctor of Music in 1545. At some point between 1541/2 and 1543 he was appointed Organist and Master of the Choristers at Ely Cathedral. He may have remained at Ely continuously until 1560, but this is uncertain as the records for many years are missing. In 1542 he began an association with the Chapel Royal, apparently as an unpaid, honorary member and it is possible that he became a music tutor to the young Prince Edward. Tye translated The Acts of the Apostles into English Verse, set them to music in imitative partsong form and published them in 1553, with a Dedication to King Edward the Sixth. In 1560 he was ordained to the priesthood and appointed to the living of Doddington-cum-Marche, Cambridgeshire, where he remained until he died.

Tye was one of the first composers to write polyphony for the vernacular liturgy under Edward VI. Much of his music to Latin texts is fragmentary, but what survives shows that he could be as florid as other composers of his generation. He also composed a substantial body of instrumental music.

View the Wikipedia article on Christopher Tye.

List of choral works at CPDL

Sacred works in Latin

Sacred works in English

The Actes of the Apostles (1553)

  1. In the foremer treatyse
  2. When that the fyftye daye was come
  3. Peter and John they toke their way
  4. When that the people taught they had
  5. A certayne man who was named
  6. In those dayes as the nombre playne
  7. Then sayde the chefe priest Is it so?
  8. The death of Steven dyd Saule comfort
  9. Saule breathing out threatnyngs abrode
  10. Then was there one Cornelius
  11. The apostles and brethren were glad
  12. And in that tyme Herode the Kyng
  13. At Antioche there dyd remayne
  14. It chaunced in Iconium

Contrafacta

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Publications

External links