ABSTRACT
Musica Deo sacra comprises fifty-three full anthems, forty-one verse anthems and five services together with various other liturgical pieces: a set of Preces, two festal psalms and five metrical psalm tunes. All thirteen of Tomkins's verse anthems omitted from Musica Deo sacra were written with liturgical performance in mind; even the distinctive Rejoice, rejoice survives in a bass partbook at Gloucester Cathedral. Three verse anthems were recently identified as being almost certainly by Tomkins. Several sets of Musica Deo sacra include bound-in manuscript-paper sheets to allow for the inclusion of further works. Rejoice, rejoice is an unusual work in many respects. It has been suggested that it is not by Tomkins since it does not represent the composer at his best or most characteristic. Musica Deo sacra includes a set of Preces–but not Responses–which reworks a similar version found in manuscript sources. Both sets merit a place in the cathedral repertoire.
