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To Byrd and his sixteenth-century contemporaries, technique was the means of expressing the composer's thought, but it was also an artistic achievement in itself, a vehicle exactly contrived for the delivery of its message, and an essential part of that message. With this in mind, the author analyses the major aspects of Byrd's technique, illustrating his discussion with numerous music examples. The comparisons which are inevitably made, at every stage, between Byrd's practice and that of his predecessors and contemporaries at home and abroad, make the book in an important sense a general survey of polyphonic vocal technique during the period. This will further enhance its value for students of the golden age of vocal polyphony.