Christopher Tye
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.
- For works at CPDL sorted alphabetically by title, see Christopher Tye compositions
List of choral works at CPDL
Sacred works in Latin
Sacred works in English
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Publications
- The Actes of the Apostles (1553)
External links
- The Actes of the Apostles (1553) at the Petrucci Music Library (IMSLP)