This is the fourth recording that The Cardinall’s
Musick have made of Tallis for Hyperion, so it’s beginning to look certain
that they are intending to offer a complete set to rival Chapelle du
Roi. The component discs have been available individually on Signum,
as a complete set at super-budget price from Brilliant Classics (94268
–
review)
and until recently in a 2-CD distillation from Regis, of which some
dealers may still have copies. There’s also a single Regis CD of
Spem
in alium, the Lamentations and several motets (RRC1394 –
review
of earlier release: Bargain of the Month). Excellent as Alistair Dixon
and Chapelle du Roi are, it’s good to have such equally fine alternatives.
On earlier releases they gave us
Gaude gloriosa and other music
(CDA67548 –
review),
Salve intemerata and other music (CDA67994: Recording of the
Month –
review)
and the Mass
Puer natus est (CDA68026: Recording of the Month
–
review).
I ended my review of the most recent of these by hoping that Volume
4 would follow hard upon its heels and here it is. The saying ‘be careful
what you wish for’ is certainly not applicable: this is all that I could
have wanted.
CDA68026 consisted wholly of Tallis’s Latin-texted music, apart from
the English
Benedictus, but there are three contrafacta here
– music originally composed with Latin texts adapted to English alternatives
– and two of the nine tunes which Tallis composed for Archbishop Parker’s
metrical psalter. Of the contrafacta, as Andrew Carwood writes in the
booklet,
Wipe away my sins is a little gem because the new words
fit the music like a glove.
We’ve had the psalm settings before, notably from Chapelle du Roi, but
there’s an additional interest in the new performances in that the accompanying
collects, the prayers which Parker wrote to round off the psalms, are
intoned. Of the two included here don’t be surprised if
Why fum’th
in fight sounds vaguely familiar – though it’s one of the simplest
of Tallis’s compositions, Vaughan Williams came across it when compiling
the music for the English Hymnal and was so impressed that he turned
it into that little masterpiece, his
Fantasia on a theme by Thomas
Tallis.
There are some fine alternatives for the longest work on the new recording,
the four-part Mass: Chapelle du Roi/Alistair Dixon on SIGCD002 –
review; Magnificat directed by Philip Cave on Linn (with
Spem
in alium, renumbered as BKD233 –
DL
Roundup September 2009) and Oxford Camerata/Jeremy Summerley on
Naxos 8.550576, all coupled with other Tallis works. The new recording
can hold its head high in their company. Carwood takes all but the
Sanctus and
Benedictus faster than Summerly without sounding
at all hurried. He gives those two sections a little more space – a
little more than Dixon and Cave, too – as befits their role as preparatory
to the Canon or consecration prayer.
There is only one (strong) competitor for the work which gives its name
to the new Hyperion CD, on Signum SIGCD001. Alistair Dixon takes the
music a little more slowly than Andrew Carwood but overall there is
very little in it: here again the new recording makes a most convincing
alternative. Hyperion have recently added four volumes of the Signum
series to their download offerings, including
SIGCD001,
available in mp3 and lossless sound with digital booklet for £7.99.
The main work on that album is the
Missa Salve intemerata, already
recorded by The Cardinall’s Musick on CDA67994 but ideally you need
both. Sample the Signum from Naxos Music Library if you can.
There are also fine recordings of
Missa Salve intemerata on budget-price
Hyperion Helios CDH55400 (Winchester Cathedral Choir/David Hill) and
The Tallis Scholars sing Thomas Tallis (2-for-1 Gimell CDGIM203).
The Gimell is a must-have foundation for any Tallis collection but I’d
hate to be without either SIGCD001 or CDA67994 or, at budget price,
the Oxford Camerata on Naxos 8.557770. It’s a sign of better times
that we have so many excellent recordings of Tallis to choose among.
Better times or not, though Hyperion have nurtured The Cardinall’s Musick
since they switched labels, Universal have neglected many of the recordings
which they made for ASV Gaudeamus earlier in their career. Among these
is an album of
Music at All Souls, Oxford which contains Tallis’s
Verily, verily I say unto you (CDGAU196, with music by Sheppard,
Tye, Parsons, Merbecke, etc.). Until they reissue it, as I hope they
will, it can be downloaded in mp3 or lossless sound from
Presto
or from
7digital.com
in mp3. See
DL
Roundup April 2011/1 but NB: passionato.com link no longer applies.
The recording was made in the amenable acoustic of the Fitzalan Chapel,
Arundel. I have listened both to the CD and to the 24-bit download
from Hyperion. Both are very good indeed but there’s just enough advantage
to the 24-bit to make me regret that Hyperion and others have given
up on the SACD format – please see my
recent
article on Hyperion’s last few SACDs. The 16-bit costs £7.99 and
the 24-bit £9, both slightly less than you can expect to pay for the
CD.
As always with Hyperion the notes contribute considerably to the overall
excellence. The average reader may, however, be confused by references
to works not included on the current CD – those that are included are
highlighted in bold type. Nor would I have thought it wise to use terms
such as ‘mean’ (usually spelled ‘meane’; Latin
medius, the middle
voice of a polyphonic work),
discantus (the highest voice) or
Decani and
Cantores (the two sides of the choir, still
designated as such in English cathedrals) without explanation for non-specialists.
Even if you already have the complete Signum/Brilliant Classics set
or many of the individual CDs from it, the new Hyperion and its predecessors
should be on your wish list. The four volumes issued to date cover
almost half of Tallis’s extant output. Roll on the rest.
Brian Wilson
