Music with words written by Henry VIII's sixth wife Katherine Parr are to be performed for the first time in more than 470 years.

After more than two years of research and careful reconstruction, Thomas Tallis' Gaude Gloriosa Dei Mater complete with words written in English by Katherine are being brought to life by the Alamire choir as part of a Holy Week festival.

The London performance only came about after hand-sized fragments of 16th century music were found behind plasterwork during building work at Oxford's Corpus Christi College in 1978.

Katherine wrote the words to Tallis' music to help rally her husband for war

David Skinner, the founder and conductor of the Alamire choir, said it is now "beyond any doubt whatsoever" that Katherine wrote the words to Tallis' music to help rally her husband for war.

He told BBC Breakfast that "the two got together and they were working towards a campaign for Henry's wars against Scotland and France".

He noted that in Katherine's "very war-like text" are the words "Stand up O Lord and punish these naughty people".

Dr Skinner told BBC Breakfast "they stripped Tallis' early work Gaude Gloriosa of its Latin words and replaced them with Katherine's".

She is often thought of as Henry VIII's kind final wife and as a nursemaid who looked after him in his later life but she was "also quite a fine scholar", according to Dr Skinner.

The Good Friday performance takes place at the Tenebrae Holy Week Festival in London's St John's Smith Square.