Hyperion Records

Elizabeth, Lady Monteagle, was the daughter of Thomas Stanley and the first wife of Edward Parker, the twelfth Lord Morley; she died in 1585, although this work could have been written in the 1570s. It is Byrd’s only ‘12-bar’ pavan, its six sections running to 72 semibreves, a perfectly regular feature despite being unusual. The ornamented repeats are particularly interesting. This is one of Byrd’s few works that seems to call for a Flemish-style short-octave keyboard.

from notes by Davitt Moroney © 1999