Thomas Tomkins (1572-1656) was the last of the Elizabethan school of keyboard composers known as the virginalists. He lived well into Stuart times and could only watch as the English Civil War made havoc of his ordered world. A Sad Pavan for these Distracted Times has the date February 14, 1649, a fortnight and two days after the execution of King Charles I. Tomkins had probably only just heard this almost unbelievable news.
The elderly composer’s sense of bewilderment at what is happening around him comes through very strongly in this piece.
I think we are all feeling a bit like that just now.