John Taverner's musical career differed in some respects from other sixteenth century English composers. Though he was writing music as late as the 1530s and 1540s, when the entire liturgy of the English church was being transformed, he seems not to have experimented much stylistically. In addition, he seems not to have made a great issue of his personal faith (unlike the staunchly Catholic Byrd or Tallis, who followed each wind of change). Taverner also somehow earned enough money as a practicing church musician to retire from music and spend his last years in peace. Finally, he apparently accomplished this while never serving in Royal Chapel. This does not mean, of course, that Taverner lacked royal patronage. In fact, one lone surviving piece of his music suggests deliberate efforts on his part to curry royal favor: the Kyrie "Leroy" (translated, the king). Whether the piece's contemporary subtitle refers to the reigning King Henry VIII, or alludes to the English royal house more abstractly—via the "roy henry," quite possibly Henry V, who composed some of the music in the "Old Hall" manuscript—Taverner's music locates him in the royal orbit, however fleetingly.

Taverner's Kyrie "Leroy" was apparently composed by itself, not as an element in a complete cyclic Mass setting. Whether this might be a remnant of earlier fifteenth century practices of freestanding mass movements, or a piece composed by Taverner for some specific occasion is unclear. Musically, the Kyrie strikes a balance between the more florid ceremonial style of his near-contemporaries such as Fayrfax and Taverner's generally more sonorous harmonic flavor. He only set the piece for four voices, avoiding the ornate double sopranos found in much turn-of-the century English music. He does use extremely long, florid melismas and retains the full four-voiced texture throughout, but maintains a strong sense of harmonic solidity. The middle Christe section even opens with a mildly slower harmonic rhythm, which builds to a textural climax and an oddly unsettling structural cadence. The final Kyrie section opens on a powerful triadic foundation. Even in a relatively short and restrained work such as this lone Kyrie, Taverner demonstrates his strong command of overall musical shape.

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