ABSTRACT
John Taverner's music, written for choirs in Lincolnshire and Oxford, had apparently circulated as far afield as London and Suffolk in the 1520s and 1530s, and Kent by about 1540. Some of John Taverner's compositions show much more pronounced departures from the old florid tradition than do those just mentioned. All the references to Taverner that date from his lifetime concern his work as a singer or teacher, or his non-musical activities. Composing, was not his sole or principal activity even during his years as a professional musician, and he probably had few opportunities thereafter. Taverner was able to handle with assurance methods uncharacteristic of earlier English music. The younger composers Tallis, Tye and Sheppard came under Taverner's influence, or at least showed a similar new directness of utterance. To provide for those parts of the Creed that Taverner never set, the anonymous arranger or arrangers repeated earlier music, or transferred sections from the Sanctus and Agnus Dei.
