In The World of William Byrd John Harley builds on his previous work, William Byrd: Gentleman of the Chapel Royal (Ashgate, 1997), in order to place the composer more clearly in his social context. He provides new information about Byrd's youthful musical training, and reveals how in his adult life his music emerged from a series of overlapping family, business and social networks. These networks and Byrd's navigation within and between them are examined, as are the lives of a number of the individuals comprising them.

This classic work is a meticulous chronological survey of music for the keyboard from the earliest extant manuscripts of the 14th century to the end of the 17th. Apel traces the evolution of keyboard instruments, genres, national schools and styles (from Poland to Portugal), and the oeuvre of many composers. A monument of scholarship, this indispensable reference work is also remarkably user-friendly and engagingly written throughout.

"The most remarkable, and in many respects the most valuable collection of Elizabethan keyboard music." — Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Here is Volume One of the famous early 17th-century collection of keyboard music. Features 300 airs, variations, fantasies, toccatas, and more by Morley, Byrd, Bull, Gibbons, and others. Modern notation.

A smaller version of the harpsichord, the virginal enjoyed wide popularity during the 16th and 17th centuries. Based upon a 1591 manuscript, this collection features 42 pieces in modern notation.