Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor Rob Barnett Editor in Chief
John Quinn Contributing Editor Ralph Moore Webmaster
David Barker Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf MusicWeb Founder Len Mullenger
Thomas TALLIS (1505-1585) The Complete Works Music for Henry VIII
Music at the Reformation
Music for Queen Mary
Music for the Divine Office 1
Music for the Divine Office 2
Music for a Reformed Church
Music for Queen Elizabeth
The Lamentations and Contrafacta
The Instrumental Music and Songs 1
The Instrumental Music and Songs 2
Full contents at end of review
Chapelle du Roi/Alistair Dixon;
Andrew Benson-Wilson (organ)
Charivari Agréable:
Lynda Sayce (lute) Laurence Cummings (virginal, harpsichord) Andrew Benson-Wilson
(organ) Stephen Taylor (counter-tenor)
rec. 1996-2004, St Augustine’s Church, Kilburn; St Jude’s
Church, Hampstead; The Chapel, Knole House, Sevenoaks;
All Hallows’ Church, Gospel Oak; St Andrew’s Church, Toddington.
DDD BRILLIANT
CLASSICS 93612 [10 CDs: 657:34]
Tallis lived during a time of tremendous
religious upheaval. The succession from Henry VIII to Edward
VI, Edward to Mary Tudor and Mary to Elizabeth meant changes
from Catholic to Protestant, and back again with Mary,
before Elizabeth’s “third way” – a more accepting and moderate
form of Protestantism.
Tallis lived through all of this, highly
respected and admired in his day for his compositions,
and, remarkably enough, managed to please each monarch
in turn. During his life-time he produced some glorious,
inspiring, and deeply uplifting music. This 10-disc set
from Brilliant Classics, featuring the Chapelle du Roi,
presents the complete works, including recordings of music
that have hitherto been unrecorded. How lovely to have
a complete set of works.
The first disc, entitled Music for
Henry VIII, features sacred music written between
around 1530 and 1540, a time when church music was at
an apex. During this time, Tallis worked first as organist
at the small Benedictine monastery of Dover Priory, then
at St Mary-at-Hill in Billingsgate and then the Augustinian
abbey of Holy Cross at Waltham in Essex. This was the
last English abbey to be dissolved two years after Tallis
had started working there. He then moved on to Canterbury
Cathedral, where he was a lay-clerk for two years before
being made a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal, a role he
kept for the rest of his life. This disc features the
Mass Salve Intemerata, and opens with the glorious Ave
Dei Patris Filia.
Disc two is Music at the Reformation.
This was most likely all composed during the 1540s, a time
of great change in religious practices in England, and
the musical expression and accompaniment of the works reflect
this. English translations of Latin liturgical texts were
being made and set to music, although Latin texts never
entirely went out of fashion during Tallis’s day. Here,
we find a collection of both Latin (the Mass for Four
Voices, Magnificat and Sanctus Deus,
for example) and English works (such as If Ye Love Me, Remember
Not, O Lord God).
The music on the
third disc dates from the reign of Mary Tudor, during which
the Latin rites were fully restored. The disc includes
the substantial Mass Puer natus est nobis and the
votive antiphon Gaude gloriosa.
Discs four and
five are Music for the Divine Office – works composed
for the Canonical Hours (eight daily services) - Matins,
Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline.
Tallis’s music for these services probably mostly dates
from his time as a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal, and includes
a Magnificat, Alleluia, offertory, responsories,
organ music, antiphons, and hymns that are delightfully
innovative, despite being, at their most basic levels,
settings of original plainchants.
Music for a Reformed
Church is the title of the sixth disc, comprising works
written for the
reformed services laid out in The booke of the common
prayer, after the 1549 Act for the Uniformity of
Service. This Act enforced services in the vernacular,
and on this disc we have the standard daily liturgical
sequence of Matins, Holy Communion, and Evensong (for
which Tallis wrote canticles and anthems, the Venite, Te
Deum, Benedictus, Magnificat, Nunc
Dimittis, Kyrie and Credo), along with
the associated intonations and collects. The disc concludes
with the nine tunes which Tallis composed for Archbishop
Matthew Parker’s Psalter.
Disc seven, featuring Latin motets, is
entitled Music for Queen Elizabeth. During Elizabeth’s
reign, the arts flourished, new ideas blossomed, and there
was greater stability - both political, and also in culture
and the arts. Tallis’s Latin motets demonstrate this, drawing
as they do upon new compositional ideas from abroad, whilst
being based in the English traditions. Mostly scored for
five voices, they set both liturgical and non-liturgical
texts, and include Tallis’s masterpiece Spem in Alium,
for forty parts.
Lamentations and Contrafacta comprise disc eight, including two settings of the Lamentations
of Jeremiah and English versions of some of Tallis’s
most celebrated Latin motets (including Sing and glorify
heaven’s high majesty, an English rendition of Spem
in alium).
The two final
discs are recordings of the Instrumental Music and Songs.
Whilst some of Tallis’s secular pieces are arrangements
made of sacred works. An example can be found on the sixth
track of disc 9, an adaptation of Tallis’s organ piece Felix
namque -
based on the plainchant melody) for lute – an instrument
for which we have no extant works by Tallis. Other pieces
may have been written for performance by secular musicians
at the Tudor court, or for the training or teaching of
choirboys, or even for choirboys’ plays. It is even possible
that his keyboard works might have been written for Queen
Elizabeth, a good amateur musician. Most of Tallis’s keyboard
music and the partsongs - possibly also for choirboy plays
- has come down to us from a manuscript anthology compiled
by Thomas Mulliner in the late 1550s and early 1560s, and
known as the ‘Mulliner Book’. Disc 9 concludes with William
Byrd’s Ye sacred Muses, in which the one great composer
laments the death of the other in a touching work of great
power and intensity. The final disc features the Litany, Felix
Namque in its original organ version, and the Verset
I and II, of dubious authorship.
There are no sleeve-notes in this set.
Rather, they are presented on a 75-page PDF on a CD-ROM,
which include texts and translations, as well as extensive
notes. Many, like me, may prefer an actual booklet; we
may not always have a computer to hand when we want to
listen to a disc! In the notes for the first four discs,
whole swathes of text are repeated. Nevertheless, one can
eventually discover all the information about these works
and recordings that one wants to. The notes are very thorough
and scholarly.
The performances
on these discs are of the very highest quality. Chapelle
du Roi is a highly respected group that specializes in
sacred music of the renaissance period, making them perfect
exponents of Tallis’s music. They are under the highly
competent musicianship of their founding director Alistair
Dixon. Other artists featured include organist Andrew Benson-Wilson,
the early-music ensemble Charivari Agréable, Lawrence Cummings
on virginals and harpsichord and Stephen Taylor, the superb
counter-tenor in the songs on disc 9. On the whole, this
is a splendid set - much wonderful music and exquisite
music-making.
Em Marshall
Full Tracklist
CD
1 [71:52]
Music
for Henry VIII: Ave
Dei patris filia [15.33]
Ave
rosa sine spinis [11.14]
Alleluia:
Ora pro nobi [3.57]
Euge
celi porta [2.28] Kyrie:
Deus creator [2.28]
Mass:
Salve Intemerata Gloria [5.11] Credo [6.05]
Sanctus & Benedictus [5.05]
Acinus
Dei [3.56]
Chapelle
du Roi/Alistair Dixon.
rec.
23–25 October 1996, St Augustine’s Church, Kilburn.
CD
2 [70.32]
Music
at the Reformation: Magnificat [10.06] Nunc
dimittis [3.12] Sancte
Deus [5.58] Conditor
Kyrie [2.24] Mass
for four voices Gloria [5.17] Credo [6.40] Sanctus [3.00] Benedictus [2.54] Agnus
Dei [4.14] Remember
not, O lord god [3.11]
Hear
the voice and prayer [3.15]
If
ye love me [2.13] A
new commandment [2.50]
Benedictus [6.25] Te
Deum for meanes [8.55] Chapelle
du Roi/Alistair Dixon.
rec.
10-11, 13 February 1997, St Augustine’s Church, Kilburn.
CD
3[64:37]
Music
for Queen Mary: Beati
immaculati [3.58]
Introit:
Puer natus est nobis [3.06]
Kyrie:
Deus Creator [2.31]
Mass:
Puer natus est nobis Gloria [7.45]
Gradual:
Viderunt omnes [3.35]
Alleluia:
Dies sanctificus [1.57]
Sequence:
Celeste organum [3.41]
Sanctus [3.42]
Benedictus [2.41]
Agnus
dei [5.55]
Communion:
Viderunt omnes [0.40]
Suscipe
quaeso [7.55]
Gaude
gloriosa [17.11]
Chapelle
du Roi/Alistair Dixon.
rec.
28–30 May 1997, St Jude’s Church, Hampstead
CD
4 [66:41]
Music
for the Divine Office 1: Hodie
nobis caelorum [4.00]
Salvator
mundi [4.28]
Quod
chorus vatum [4.44]
Videte
miraculum [9.11]
In
pace in idipsum [6.11]
Dum
transisset sabbatum [7.02]
Jesu
salvator saeculi [4.00]
Sermone
blando [5.31]
Jam
Christus astra ascenderat [5.16]
Loquebantur
variis linguis [4.15]
Magnificat [11.56]
Chapelle
du Roi/Alistair Dixon.
rec.
29–31 July 1998, St Jude’s Church, Hampstead.
CD
5 [77:53]
Music
for the Divine Office 2: Audivi
vocem de coelo [3.29]
Candidi
facti sunt [4.32]
Honor
virtus et potestas [5.49]
Homo
quidam fecit coenam [5.05]
Te
lucis ante terminum (ferial) [1.35]
Te
lucis ante terminum (festal) [2.07]
Natus
est nobis hodie [0.52]
Veni
redemptor genitum [7.35]
Jam
lucis orto sidere [4.04]
Ecce
tempus idoneum [4.12]
Ex
more docti mistico [7.l3]
Clarifica
me pater [4.33]
Clarifica
me pater [1.03]
Clarifica
me pater [1.10]
Gloria
tibi trinitas [1.50]
Iste
confessor [5.05]
Alleluia:
Per te Dei genitrix [5.01]
Felix
namque [12.29]
Chapelle
du Roi/Alistair Dixon
Andrew
Benson-Wilson (organ).
rec.
12-14 October 1998, St Jude’s Hampstead (trs. 1-6); 23–24
May 1999, The Chapel, Knole House (trs7–18).
CD
6 [77:53]
Music
for a Reformed Church: Christ
rising again from the dead [4.39]
Preces
(1st set) [1.08]
Venite [3.28]
Te
Deum [4.39]
Benedictus [3.42]
Responses
and collects for Easter Matins [4.48]
Commandments [5.31]
Credo [3.40]
Offertory
sentence [0.40]
Sanctus [034]
Gloria [1.47]
Preces
(2nd set) [1.07]
Wherewithal
shall a young man [2.16]
O
do well unto thy servant [2.29]
My
soul cleaveth to the dust [2.47]
Magnificat [3.10]
Nunc
dimittis [1.46]
Responses
and collects for Christmas Eve evensong [4.47]
O
lord, give thy holy spirit [2.05]
Purge
me, O lord [1.48]
Verily,
verily I say unto you [1.42]
Remember
not, O lord god [4.34]
O
Lord, in thee is all my trust [2.42]
Out
from the deep [154]
Tunes
for Archbishop Parker's Psalter Man
blest no doubt [0.59]
Let
god arise in majesty [0.44]
Why
fun’th in fight [0.51]
O
come in one to praise the Lord [1.20]
E'en
like the hunted hind [0.52]
Expend,
O Lord, my plaint [1.19]
Why
brag'st in malice high [0.39]
God
grant with grace [1.10]
Ordinal [0.42]
Chapelle
du Roi/Alistair Dixon.
rec.
24-26 July 2000, St Jude’s Church, Hampstead
CD 7 [62:45]
Music
for Queen Elizabeth: Salvator
mundi [2.19]
In
manus tuas [1.51]
O
nata lux de lumine [1.54]
Absterge
domine [5.31]
Discomfort
them O Lord [4.37]
Domine,
quis habitabit [8.29]
Laudate
Dominum [4.04]
Miserere
nostri [2.18]
Salvator
Mundi [2.21]
Mini
autem nimis [2.15]
O
salutaris hostia [2.38] In
ieiunio et fletu (low) [3.59]
In
ieiunio et fletu (high) [3.18]
Derelinquat
impius [3.49]
Spem
in alium [10.03]
Chapelle
du Roi/Alistair
Dixon.
rec.
13-15 November 2000, St Jude’s Church, Hampstead
CD
8[63:22]
The
Lamentations and Contrafacta: Lamentations
of Jeremiah I [7.48]
Lamentations
of Jeremiah II [12.20]
Wipe
away my sins [5.17]
Forgive
me, Lord, my sin [5.39]
Blessed
are those that be undefiled [4.16]
Arise,
O Lord, and hear [2.23]
With
all our hearts [2.29]
I
call and cry to thee [3.05]
O
sacred and holy banquet [3.06]
When
Jesus went into Simon and Pharisee’s house [2.26]
Blessed
be thy name [2.21]
O
Praise the Lord II [2.33]
Sing
and glorify heaven’s high majesty [9.36]
Chapelle
du Roi/Alistair Dixon.
rec.
24–27 September 2002, All Hallows’ Church, Gospel Oak.
CD
9 [75:15]
The
Instrumental Music and Songs 1: In
nomine I [2.03]
In
nomine II [3.32]
A
solfing song [2.10]
Salvator
mundi [1.58]
Fantasia [4.20]
Felix
NamqueII [12.10]
When
shall my sorrowful sighing slack [1.40]
Like
as the doleful dove [1.40]
O
ye tender babes [1.32]
Purge
me, O lord [1.26]
Per
haec nos [1.48]
A
Point [0.37]
Lesson:
Two partes in one [5.24]
Remember
not, O Lord God [3.19]
Per
haec nos [1.19]
A
Point [0.38]
Lesson:
two partes in one [5.24]
Tu
nimirum [2.00]
When
shall my sorrowful sighing slack [4.35]
Like
as the doleful dove [1.40]
O
ye tender babes [1.36]
William BYRD Ye sacred muses [3.26]
Charivari
Agreable (Lynda Sayce, (lute); Laurence Cummings (virginal,
harpsichord); Andrew Benson-Wilson, (organ); Stephen Taylor
(counter-tenor))
rec.
13-15 May 2004 at St Andrew’s Church, Toddington
CD
10 [26:44]
The
Instrumental Music and Songs 2: Litany [14.29]
Verset
1[0.54]
Verset
2[0.44]
Feljx
namque [10.33]
Chapelle
du Roi/Alistair Dixon
Andrew
Benson-Wilson (organ).
rec.
July 2000, Chapel of Knole, Sevenoaks (tr. 1). May 1999,
Chapel of Knole, Sevenoaks (trs. 2-4).
Reviews
from previous months Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the
discs reviewed. details We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin
Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to
which you refer.