This piece has been attributed to a couple of different Tudor composers including Redford but at present the scholarship says that we don't know who wrote it. It is found in the Mulliner Book, a manuscript compiled roughly between 1540 and 1575 by Thomas Mulliner, who was known to be an organist at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. It includes music both sacred and secular, mostly in keyboard reduction but also in tablature for the cittern. This piece is only found with a title and a keyboard reduction so all of the text underlay is editorial, usually from the 1549 Book of Common Prayer since it is more or less contemporary. The text is from Paul's letter to the Philippians and is as follows:
Rejoice in the Lord alway,
and again I say, rejoice.
Let your softness be known unto all men:
the Lord is at hand.
Be careful for nothing:
but in all prayer and supplication,
let your petitions be manifest unto God with giving of thanks.
And the peace of God,
which passeth all understanding,
shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesu. Amen.
