ABSTRACT
The letter Somerset sent to the universities in 1548 assumed knowledge of what went on in the Chapel Royal. Guesses about the music sung by the members of King Edward's Chapel must be based on very general descriptions. At St Mary-at-Hill the custom is for an Antempne of owre ladye to be sung at evensong on Christmas Day when all those wearing surplices entered the choir of the church. There is in fact an anonymous part song with words beginning If ye love me, probably dating from the reign of Henry VIII. Some anthems by Thomas Tallis do not appear in the either the Wanley or Lumley partbooks, and were not printed by Day. The fundamental element is the grouping of voices, and it relates closely to the sense of the words. This was how Tallis dealt with long texts in his early antiphons, and it serves as a reminder that dealing with his Latin-texted music and English-texted music.
