“Profound, spiritual, and beautiful.”
-The Financial Times
“Quietly transfixing.”
-The New Yorker
England’s finest composer William Byrd was a covert Catholic facing brutal persecution.
Hear his Mass for 5 Voices as he intended: sung for worship in strictest secrecy.
The Gesualdo Six and Fretwork have collaborated with creator Bill Barclay in an historic theatrical concert by candlelight, communing with some of the most ravishing music ever written.
Our flagship production and 30+ city tour was created for the 400th anniversary of William Byrd. It was commissioned by Washington National Cathedral and The Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields.
“Effortless perfection”
-The Observer
Read out cover story in Chamber Music Magazine
William Byrd
Created & Directed by
Bill Barclay
Forces
THE GESUALDO SIX
Owain Park, director
With Viol Sextets including:
FRETWORK,
ABENDMUSIK,
WILDCAT VIOLS,
SECOND CITY MUSICK,
& TESSERAE BAROQUE
80 minutes
Trailer
“Secret Byrd mixes music, history, and drama, and what emerges is an experience that is neither concert nor theatre, but something out of life itself. Already atmospheric and resonant, the space became a time machine.”
–The Financial Times
“Musically it’s glorious…chillingly authentic…ominous, buoyant and uplifting… What better way to open this year’s 400th anniversary celebrations.
“The spirit of clandestine celebration of a Catholic mass is at the heart of Bill Barclay’s Secret Byrd…The all-male voices ring out with intonational precision and an almost ecstatic connection to text that would have delighted Byrd.”
Read the full GUARDIAN review.
“If they haven’t already filmed this, they should for when the initial tour is over. In the meantime, do try to see it live.”
From Creator Bill Barclay:
“For Byrd’s anniversary I wanted to highlight a part of his personality that is little understood: his courageous activism.
Part art installation, part concert, and part immersive theatre, Secret Byrd will tour Byrd’s essential story, to highlight religious persecution still afflicting the world today, and perhaps most importantly – to encourage us all to let people believe what they wish.
I fervently believe that once we stop trying to convince people they’re wrong, we can move to the next stage of our evolution – working together to protect a world where we each get to choose our fate.”
Concert-theatre at its most intimate
Singers are staged to manage the house, light the candles, and gather to worship. They sing the Ordinary movements of the mass that Byrd set, while the strings play the Proper movements (the sections that change in the liturgy week to week). At one moment a rude interruption crashes into the serenity of the evening, and a sacrifice must be made.
Bread is broken by the audience where communion occurs in the mass. What was a solemn reenactment turns to a celebration of life and the searing power of music.
A gallery of the history of Catholic recusancy and religious persecution still occurring today is included for audiences to learn about Byrd’s incredible faith and advocacy. Please read the program notes on the right to learn more about what motivates this production.
Light, Smells, and Taste
Concert Theatre Works uses imaginative production techniques to bring music to life. Soup and bread cooked on site are passed to foster a sense of ritual and inclusivity. Candlelight is important to the performance but may be amended with each venue. Audiences rove freely among the costumed artists feeling the original hand-made part-books and sacred objects.
Past Tour Dates
2023
UK Premier: St Martin-in-the-Fields
US Premier:Washington National Cathedral, DC
Bridgewater, VA
St Paul’s School, New Hampshire
Death of Classical, Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn
Oxford Festival of the Arts
Lincoln (UK) with Martin Randall Travel,
The Mount Without, Bristol (UK)
St Martin-in-the-Fields revival, London
St Marys, Haddington at the Lammermuir Festival, Scotland
St. Bartholomew’s, Brighton Early Music Festival
Performance Santa Fe
National Centre for Early Music, York
2024
Cathedral Church of St John the Divine, NYC
Salisbury Medieval Hall, UK
Guildford Holy Trinity Church
September 5 Oxford, Christ Church
St Paul’s Cathedral, Boston
2025
St John’s Episcopal Cathedral, Los Angeles
Salvage One, Chicago
Grace Cathedral, San Francisco
Kilkenny Arts Festival, Ireland
2026
Bath Abbey, Bath
Sinfonia Smith Square, London
Perth Festival of the Arts, Scotland
“Secret Byrd is deeply moving – a spiritual experience sensitively translated for a secular age…touring the UK and US throughout this year, it is the brainchild of Bill Barclay, a well-established master of sui generis music-theatre events. This collaboration with the vocal ensemble The Gesualdo Six and viol consort Fretwork has his meticulous fingerprints all over it.”
Read more from The Tablet review above.
“What to do with an event that resists characterization? You could feel the composer’s heart and soul…The skill on hand was unequivocally impressive.
“The singers, richly costumed in period dress, and the musicians, at home on three sizes of viola da gamba, brought Barclay’s vision to multidimensional life.”
“Few opportunities to hear [Byrd’s] music are as intimate or visceral as Bill Barclay’s “Secret Byrd,” an immersive program extremely on trend for classical music right now…The Gesualdo Six sang magnificently in tune; the ensemble was faultless. Their sound is precision-tooled for blend, perfectly rounded, and has the utmost ease and precision.
“Secret Byrd is a novel and engrossing way of bringing Renaissance music to the public and is done with an intimacy and imagination that embeds this music within the world.”
“Secret Byrd is an intriguing example of how to create a non-traditional concert experience. It enhances the context around the music instead of competing with it. Most importantly, the form the theatrical presentation takes serves the interests of the music rather than working against it, by allowing audiences a rare chance to experience expert singers performing this detailed, intimate music in close quarters.”
“Quietly transfixing…In the atmospheric catacombs below Green-Wood Cemetery, the singers and string ensemble, enact an immersive ritual around a candlelit table, raising their voices, one to a part, in Byrd’s solemn strains.”
“That this all had a beautiful sound goes without saying; it also had a deep and beautiful spirit and effect that went beyond music.
“Music-making is a social activity, and Byrd’s masses were not the concert pieces we hear today — they had a social and ceremonial purpose and meaning that existed beyond the music’s duration and cemented social bonds. Secret Byrd brings this together again into something real and profound.”
“High drama…and excellent performances…An effective and compelling dramatic presentation, as well as a reminder of our hope for a world in which people’s differences of belief are tolerated and respected.”
Testimonials
I say this with much anxiety: run, do not walk, to the Gesualdo Six concerts tonight and tomorrow at Grace Cathedral. I saw their Los Angeles performance last night of SECRET BYRD, a theatrical production that reenacts what an illegal Catholic mass might have looked, tasted, smelled, and sounded like in England in 1590. The six male vocalists, dressed in period clothing, sing two candlelit Byrd masses, fully contextualized within a Baroque liturgical setting.
The ensemble is so impeccably in tune, and Byrd’s music so ethereally effervescent, you get completely swept up into the art of it all. Just like opera needs to be seen in person to appreciate the costumes, set design, and lighting, I’m convinced this is the only way to experience sacred Baroque music. It was one of the top three musical experiences of my life. I cannot recommend it enough: you will regret missing it. An 11/10 from me.
Byrd’s serene cadences, the crystalline English choral head voice, a small ensemble of period viols, all set against today’s climate of religious tension and fanaticism, make this work more than relevant. It’s worth your time.
What an AMAZING evening in LA for Secret Byrd–WOW!!!!! What you have created is visionary–a way of connecting wonderful music with people in such an intimate way. As we discussed briefly after the 6:00 show, we’ve both been doing this a LONG time and MUST find new ways to connect with people and you have created an awesome way to do this–BRAVO!!! I look forward to what else you have and will be bringing to LA. Please keep me informed, as well, of your productions in the US–I have several colleagues who NEED to experience what you have done–thanks, again, and be well!
I want to express my heartfelt thanks for the privilege of attending Secret Byrd in Chicago last night. It was one of the most profound, immersive, and spiritually resonant performances I have witnessed in years. The seamless integration of sacred music, dramatic presence, and historical depth left me moved and inspired.
The Gesualdo Six were extraordinary—vocally stunning, emotionally precise, and spiritually attuned. Their rendering of Byrd’s Mass was not only technically flawless but deeply prayerful, drawing the audience into a rare encounter with beauty and grace. They served as both musicians and ministers of the moment.
And what a moment it was. Salvage One proved to be a remarkably fitting setting for the work—a space that felt suspended in time, reverent yet raw, echoing the clandestine tension and sacred dignity of Byrd’s world. The juxtaposition of place and performance was utterly arresting.
Though I had every intention of returning tonight, a longstanding obligation prevents me from doing so. Please know that I am with you in spirit and in solidarity with your mission. Our brief conversations—particularly your reflections on the Church’s teachings on justice, fraternity, and the transcendent power of art—affirmed for me how deeply aligned I am with your convictions.
If there are ways, beyond financial support, that I might contribute to this “ministry of beauty”—whether through writing, advocacy, or outreach—I would be honored to explore them with you.
This production is possible through a project grant by the:
