Ave verum corpus (Hail, true body) is based on a 14th century poem. This musical setting by William Byrd (1543 – 1623) is considered one of his finest works. A student of Thomas Tallis, William Byrd was the leading English composer of his time, a great master of the Renaissance along with Giovanni Palestrina and Orlando de Lassus, and left a huge legacy of printed music.

The false relation, the G sharp in the 1st and 2nd flutes and the G natural in the alto and bass flutes  in measure 2 was Byrd's way of emphasizing the word verum.

Composer: Anne McGinty
Instrumentation: 4 C Flutes, Alto Flute & Bass Flute
Duration/# of Pages: ca. 3:20 / 12 pages, 8.5″ x 11″
Key: N/A