The movement which Byrd calls Marche Before The Battell became known as The Earl of Oxford’s March, though it is not entirely clear why. It appears in an early manuscript copy of the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, written while Byrd was at the height of its powers.
William Byrd was an English composer of the Renaissance. He wrote in many of the forms current in England at the time, including various types of sacred and secular polyphony, keyboard and consort music. What little music that was published was overwhelmingly choral, as keyboard music required printing techniques yet to be perfected. Musicians were used to copying instrumental music by hand into family ‘commonplace books’, while wealthier families employed a ‘scribe’ to do this. The Nevell family were a wealthy and powerful family and Lady Nevell’s Book was copied by one John Baldwin in 1591. It contained a number of Byrd pieces, including the descriptive suite The Battell. The Battell was probably written after 1588 when England was in a mood of national celebration after victory over the Spanish and French Armadas. The movement which Byrd calls Marche Before The Battell later became known as The Earl of Oxford’s March, written while Byrd was at the height of its powers.
