The Hatter's Diary
06 Aug 2025
In the latest Hatter post, which covers the compositions for 2025, I explained:William has temporarily proven a dead end. Long story short, a book on William Byrd was eventually deemed "lost in the mail." By the time I got my hands on a copy, I was no longer in the mood to read something drier than a caucus race. You can track that adventure here, where I take notes on much of Fux's Gradus ad Parnassum instead.
Wikipedia tells me that William Byrd married Juliana Birley in 1568, and they had at least 7 children. The only names we have for the children are Christopher, Elizabeth, and Thomas. Thomas Byrd, who was likely the second son of William Byrd, was the godson of Thomas Tallis, another successful English composer from the Renaissance. While "The Son" or "Son William" could be Christopher or Thomas to you, he is very clearly Thomas to me.
To outline the unknowns, I don't know if I'll keep Tommy's verses from the first composition or rewrite
it. At this point in time, I'm leaning towards rewriting it. I know that Father William's verses will not have piano accompaniment, but I'm not sure if the texture will be 3 or 4 voices. I'm leaning towards four, and the four characters would be William, The Caterpillar, Tommy, and Alice.
Byrd's Gradualia Book 1 begins with 32 motets for 5 voices, which I will ignore.
Motets for 4 Voices:
1. Cibavit Eos p. 116
2. Oculi Omnium p. 119
3. Sacerdotes Domini p. 123
4. Quotiescunque Manducabitis p. 124
5. Ave Verum Corpus p. 127
6. O Salutaris Hostia p. 129
7. O Sacrum Convivium p. 132
8. Nobis Datus Nobis Natus p. 134
9. Ecce Quam Bonum p. 139
10. Christus Resurgens p. 143
11. Visita Quæsumus Domine p. 148
12. Salve Regina p. 151
13. Alma Redemptoris Mater p. 155
14. Ave Regina Cœlorum p. 159
15. In Manus Tuas p. 168
16. Lætania p. 166
17. Salve Sola Dei Genetrix p. 169
18. Senex Puerum p. 172
19. Hodie Beata Virgo p. 174
20. Deo Gratias p. 176
Motets for 3 Voices:
1. Quem Terra Pontus p. 177
2. O Gloriosa Domina p. 181
3. Memento Salutis Auctor p. 183
4. Ave Maris Stella p. 186
5. Regina Cæli p. 192
6. Alleluia. Quae Lucescit p. 196
7. Hæc Dies p. 198
8. Angelus Domini Descendit p. 199
9. Post Dies Octo p. 200
10. Turbarum Voces p. 202
11. Adorna Thalamum Tuum Sion p. 205
Gradualia Book 2, if you were curious, contains 19 motets for 4 voices, 18 motets for 5 voices, and 9 motets for 6 voices. So far, I have very helpfully not reviewed my Fux, and gotten distracted by watching the early music video on castrati. I learned that castrati had abnormally long limbs and whiskerless faces, and that "the last castrato " Alessandro Moreschi (1858-1922) was the only castrati to have ever made recordings. My favorite recording of his seems to be Crucifixus.
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The Hatter's Diary
21 Feb 2026
Will you LOOK AT THAT. It is February, and half a year has slipped through my mercury-laden fingers. Since my last correspondence to myself, KLCC has died, my reaction to that was to become a violin studio pianist, I'm currently studying Timani for some reason, a family reunion is coming up in a month, I've committed to baking at the May Market again, and Rebecca and I have recently agreed that I must rewrite William sooner rather than later. So enough with the fancy pants plans and analysis.
I opened the score, and it looks like I had already drafted bits here and there. My intentions had been to put myself through my own counterpoint class, but instead, I'm going to start filling in the blanks.
It appears that we will need a soprano for Alice, the Cheshire will be Tommy, and in addition, we'll require two menfolk. It's time for bed, and I've already completed 11 of 21 sections.
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The Hatter's Diary
22 Feb 2026
This thing is writing itself - probably because it was actually already written five years ago. I had been preparing for battle for over a year, when all I needed to do was remember to put a hat on my head and magically transform into a monk with a quill in my hand. Which I did. And copying doesn't require cleverness.
While I had my hat on, I changed no more than a handful of notes for an alternate (rather demanding) ending of The Duchess' Lullaby. Until next time.
YMH
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