TYE, CHRISTOPHER

Christopher Tye was an English musician and composer chiefly known for his religious anthems. Little is known about his life. Probably the music tutor to the future Edward VI, Tye dedicated hisActes of the Apostelles in Meter to Synge(1553) to that monarch. With a bachelor's degree in music from Cam­bridge in 1536 or 1537 and doctorates in music from Cambridge and Oxford, he served for twenty years as a choir director at Ely Cathedral. Tye played with the Chapel Royal musicians, serving the English royal family and the court. He was apparently married and had children, as the musician Robert White was his son-in-law. Also a priest, Tye was held in low esteem as a preacher, but was applauded by his contemporaries as the "father of the anthem."

D. Price, Patrons and Musicians of the English Renaissance, 1981.