Though it was the eve of the English reformation, the Catholic faith was thriving in England. One of the most popular texts for any musical setting in Tudor England was the Salve Regina—the antiphon in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary that was sung at the end of the liturgical day for nearly a quarter of every calendar year. Some of the music, of course, is no longer known. Yet thankfully, one huge collection of music from the time of Henry VII and Henry VIII did survive in the libraries of the Royal College of Our Lady, at Eton. It records dozens of pieces of music apparently sung by the Eton College choir at its daily worship services, but also affords a precious glimpse of what other choirs in England were singing in the years before and after ca. 1500. Though the five-voiced Salve Regina of William Cornysh, for instance, appears in the Eton Choirbook, it almost certainly did not originate for that institution. Cornysh was a central figure in the London music scene, serving as a Gentleman in both Henrys' royal chapels, and writing music for the popular London stage. His Salve Regina almost certainly was written for the men and choirboys who sang before the king, and was preserved by pleasant chance out in the country.

Cornysh's Salve Regina touts elements both of the general English Tudor musical style and the flourish of one of its central composers. The general style of rich, luxurious counterpoint dominated by twin upper voice parts, and thick harmonies bristling with cross-relations and occasionally surprising harmonic progressions. At the same time, Cornysh applies the hand of a powerful composer, taking the piece through a series of aurally impressive moments. The music of the very opening measures, for instance, is worthy of the Elizabethan stage. The text opens with a "salve" (hail), for which Cornysh reserves only his uppermost voices. The successive lines of text that specify the Virgin as the recipient of the greeting carefully use only the higher voice parts, waiting until the text's repeat of "salve" to bring in the full vocal spectrum and force. In a similar manner, Cornysh carefully deploys his most potent musical textures at the most important words of his text: lengthy and even anguished extended melodic sequences for words such as flentes (weeping) and converte (convert), and resounding full chords for the name of Jesus and certain cries to Mary: :"O clemens" and "O dulcis Maria."

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