Interesting bedfellows, Weelkes and Byrd. One was a brilliantly gifted madrigalist but a dipsomaniac and the other a recusant Catholic careerist who became an elder statesman of English music. As fate would have it, they both died in 1623; Weelkes aged 47 and Byrd about 80.

In putting these composers side by side to celebrate their 400th anniversary, there could be no better bedfellows than The King’s Singers and viol consort Fretwork. In addition to a generous selection of their works, the performers have also included two new commissions: James MacMillan’s Ye sacred muses, a homage to Byrd, and Roderick Williams’ Death be not proud, a setting of John Donne, one of Weelkes’ direct contemporaries. 

Against the successful trajectory of Byrd’s life (most notably his profitable relationship with Tallis and his adroit political manoeuvres with Elizabeth I), Weelkes’ career makes a sad counterpoint. 

After a promising start that included his first madrigal publication at about age 21, Weelkes later fell into the grip of the demon...