ABSTRACT
One of the motets William Byrd wrote at Lincoln is for eight voices and one is for nine, but he rarely wrote for more than six voices. Two of his Lincoln motets require five singers, and four need six. It is noticeable that abstract design and technical devices play a greater part in motets of joy and praise than they do in those with texts expressing contrition and despair, where Byrd's invention is more closely guided by the meaning of the words. The six-voice motets Domine non sum dignus and Domine salva nos are among a number of Byrd's compositions that form pairs of complementary pieces. The first two phrases of Circumdederunt me closely resemble those of Haec dicit Dominus, which it immediately follows in the Cantiones sacrae of 1591. Circumdederunt me is a quiet and reflective motet that seems to belong to the mid-eighties, a prayer for deliverance from sorrow.
