Each season, the singers of the Washington Bach Consort present a concert exploring sacred vocal polyphony of the Renaissance and Baroque. Arguably among the finest composers of the high Renaissance, William Byrd (c.1540–1623) left behind a repertory richly varied in its contrapuntal style, with a sense of individuality not often encountered among his counterparts in continental Europe. The program will be performed in observance of the 400th anniversary of the composer’s death. Much of Byrd’s Latin sacred music would have been prohibited in parishes of Elizabethan Protestant England. Like many Roman Catholics, Byrd had to exercise caution when it came to speaking—or composing—his religious views.

Hope P. McGowan, underwriter