A law of 1581 made it treason to be absolved from schism and reconciled with Rome, and the fine for recusancy was increased to £20 per month (50 times an artisan's wage).
This, like his other Mass settings, was issued without title-page or any indication of the printer or date of publication, but bibliographical analysis by Peter Clulow has established that it was printed in 1594 or 1595.
[4] This Mass is more modal in character than its three- and four-voice counterparts,[8] and more compact, closely argued and simple in style than Byrd's earlier choral music for five parts.
[10][9] Byrd's writing in this Mass is reserved, distant and austere,[11] but conveys his intense feeling for the meaning of the words, especially in the Dona nobis pacem passage.
[12] The Sanctus was sung at the coronation of George VI in 1937, and the first of many recordings of the complete Mass was made by the Fleet Street Choir under Thomas Lawrence in 1942.