The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 letter word BYRD
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
B
Y
R
D
More clues leading to the result BYRD
- Prolific scorer bowled uninspiring over
- Composer’s boring book rejected
- Old scorer, winger by the sound of it?
- Renaissance composer producing sound of kiwi, say?
- He wrote notes alongside river delta
- Teetotal bishop repelled old scorer
- Composer moving contents out of Brondesbury Road
- English composer‘s time for recital
- Old composer‘s lark given voice?
- Composer is bloody rattled, repeatedly gutted
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Renaissance composer" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case renaissance composer = byrd.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.