Page "Anthem" Paragraph 3

The anthem developed as a replacement for the Catholic " votive antiphon " commonly sung as an appendix to the main office to the Blessed Virgin Mary or other saints.

Although anthems were written in the Elizabethan period by Tallis ( 1505 – 1585 ), Byrd ( 1539 – 1623 ), and others, they are not mentioned in the Book of Common Prayer until 1662, when the famous rubric " In quires and places where they sing here followeth the Anthem " first appears.