ABSTRACT
Seven settings of the plainsong Clarifica me Pater survive: three each by Thomas Tallis and William Byrd and one by Thomas Tomkins. Not a single source bears the cantus firmus’s correct title – when a title is given at all – but they yield a fascinating case of artistic transmission and communication between three composers of successive generations. After reviewing their provenance, performance context and existing literature, the chapter determines more precisely the degree of stylistic emulation or differentiation between them. The result is a critical interpretation of an intergenerational ‘set of settings’ illustrating the musical process of emulation and competition.
