John Taverner: a composer from Tudor times

A prolific composer of choral music who was lucky to avoid prosecution for heresy

There are two English composers with the name John Taverner or Tavener. The latter, who died in 2013, claimed to be (indirectly) descended from the former. It is the pre-Elizabethan forebear who is the subject of this article.

John Taverner’s origins are obscure, although it seems likely that he was born in Lincolnshire, probably Boston, in about 1490. He was apparently a boy chorister of exceptional talent, although it is not known where, and it is not until 1524 that his name appears on any official record, when he is known to have been an adult member of the choir of Tattershall College in Lincolnshire. The reference is to “Master Taverner”, which suggests that he was highly regarded as a singer.

It would appear that he was producing music of his own during his time at Tattershall College, before he left to go to Oxford in 1526. The choir comprised sixteen men and ten boys, and Taverner composed a number of masses and antiphons for them.

Taverner’s reputation was such that he was invited to become the Master of Choristers at Cardinal College, Oxford, which was being founded by Thomas Wolsey, the Cardinal Archbishop of York and Chancellor of England. The…