Thomas Tomkins was part of a musical movement in England called the virginalist school.  The viginalists were active from the mid-sixteenth to mid-seventeenth centuries.  Other composers from this school of composition include: William Byrd (ca. 1540-1623), Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625), Peter Philips (ca. 1560-1628), John Bull (1562-1628), and Giles Farnaby (1563-1640).  Tomkins died in 1656 making him the last surviving member of the virginalist school.  (Silbiger pp. 36-62)   Tomkins wrote most of his music in the last decade of his life by which time the rest of the musical world had moved on and his music was considered archaic.  Tomkins began to reach his stylistic maturity in the 1620s when he was already in his fifties.  From that point on, he refined his approach to composition and produced increasingly personal works which seemed out of touch with the musical fashions of his time.  He published most of his music in the 1650s after the rest of the virginalist school had died out.    His music has been performed and recorded by a number early-music artist in the last several decades.  (Caldwell, pp. 141-148)