- By Cornell Music
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Matthew Hall performs a program entitled "William Byrd, Father of Music" at 3:00 pm on Saturday, February 2 at Barnes Hall. In this concert, Hall plays harpsichord and organ music from various periods in Byrd's life to trace his development as a composer and performer. Byrd's life spanned the reign of seven English monarchs in the most tumultuous century of the kingdom's history. In the midst of this, Byrd single-handedly built Elizabethan musical culture, which was widely acknowledged in his time.
In an apparent reference to the irony of a Catholic at the heart of Elizabethan musical culture, a contemporary called him the "Father of Music." Besides his public service and musical path-blazing, he was loved and admired by his students, colleagues, and patrons, Protestants and Catholics alike.
Hall has received praise for his "lively and adventurous" playing and "eloquent virtuosity" (Boston Musical Intelligencer). He holds degrees in musicology, linguistics, and performance practice from Harvard University, Boston University, and the University of Leeds (UK) where he was a Fulbright Scholar. He is now a Ph.D. candidate in musicology at Cornell University.
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