Thomas Tallis lived and worked under the reigns of no fewer than four monarchs of England and through four distinct state religions. His career began under Henry VIII, encompassed the English Reformation, the brutal Catholic return under Queen Mary, and the more tolerant and complicated Protestant reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Thus in his music we may trace most of the trends, both stylistic and liturgical, of the turbulent passage of history. Even a piece such as Tallis' simple setting of the Mass for Four Voices (sometimes called the Plainsong Mass) shows clear evidence of its particular slice of history. It is a setting of the Mass Ordinary in Latin, suitable to the English Catholic Church as well as the Anglican Church before the Book of Common Prayer. Its simple and direct musical setting, on the other hand, brands it a product of the 1530s, when English composers were straining to serve both the edicts of Cranmer and other reformers (that music be more intelligible), and Continental compositional trends toward more "structural" use of imitation.

Tallis' Mass thus proceeds in small chunks of text and music: most often the textures are chordal homophony and all conclude on overt final cadences. The relatively few instances of imitation tend to occur at sectional beginnings, and often highlight the text of a particular section (such as crucifixus or pleni sunt coeli) by their structural function. No Kyrie is present, following lengthy traditions within the English church. Two movements begin with the same musical "motto," but no other structural elements unify the Mass besides the similar voicing and mode. Despite the oft-used title Plainsong Mass, Tallis' Mass contains neither plainsong quotations nor cantus firmi; rather, it is a "playne and simple introduction" to the Mass for modest choirs and attentive congregations.

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