Thomas Tallis (c.1505 – 1585) was an English composer
who occupies a primary place in anthologies of English
choral music. He is considered one of England's
greatest composers, and he is honoured for his original
voice in English musicianship. No contemporaneous
portrait of Tallis survives; the one painted by Gerard
Vandergucht dates from 150 years after Tallis died, and
there is no reason to suppose that it is a likeness. In
a rare existing copy of his blackletter signature, he
spelled his na...(+)
Thomas Tallis (c.1505 – 1585) was an English composer
who occupies a primary place in anthologies of English
choral music. He is considered one of England's
greatest composers, and he is honoured for his original
voice in English musicianship. No contemporaneous
portrait of Tallis survives; the one painted by Gerard
Vandergucht dates from 150 years after Tallis died, and
there is no reason to suppose that it is a likeness. In
a rare existing copy of his blackletter signature, he
spelled his name "Tallys".
Little is known about Tallis's early life. He was born
in the early 16th century toward the end of Henry VII's
reign. The name "Tallis" is derived from the French
word taillis, which means a "thicket." There are
suggestions that he was a child of the chapel (boy
chorister) of the Chapel Royal, the same singing
establishment which he joined as an adult.
Tallis's first known musical appointment was in 1532 as
organist of Dover Priory (now Dover College), a
Benedictine priory in Kent. His career took him to
London, then to Waltham Abbey in the autumn of 1538, a
large Augustinian monastery in Essex which was
dissolved in 1540. He was paid off and acquired a book
about music that contained a treatise by Leonel Power
which prohibits consecutive unisons, fifths, and
octaves. The earliest surviving works by Tallis are
Salve intemerata virgo, Ave rosa sine spinis and Ave
Dei patris filia, both devotional antiphons to the
Virgin Mary which were sung in the evening after the
last service of the day; they were cultivated in
England at least until the early 1540s. Henry VIII's
break from the Roman Catholic church in 1534 and the
rise of Thomas Cranmer noticeably influenced the style
of music being written. Cranmer recommended a syllabic
style of music where each syllable is sung to one
pitch, as his instructions make clear for the setting
of the 1544 English Litany. As a result, the writing of
Tallis and his contemporaries became less florid.
Tallis' Mass for Four Voices is marked with a syllabic
and chordal style emphasising chords, and a diminished
use of melisma. He provides a rhythmic variety and
differentiation of moods depending on the meaning of
his texts.
The reformed Anglican liturgy was inaugurated during
the short reign of Edward VI (1547–53), and Tallis
was one of the first church musicians to write anthems
set to English words, although Latin continued to be
used alongside the vernacular. Mary Tudor set about
undoing some of the religious reforms of the preceding
decades, following her accession in 1553. She restored
the Roman Rite, and compositional style reverted to the
elaborate writing prevalent early in the century. Two
of Tallis's major works were Gaude gloriosa Dei Mater
and the Christmas Mass Puer natus est nobis, and both
are believed to be from this period. Puer natus est
nobis based on the introit for the third Mass for
Christmas Day may have been sung at Christmas 1554 when
Mary believed that she was pregnant with a male heir.
These pieces were intended to exalt the image of the
Queen, as well as to praise the Virgin Mary.
Some of Tallis's works were compiled by Thomas Mulliner
in a manuscript copybook called The Mulliner Book
before Queen Elizabeth's reign, and may have been used
by the queen herself when she was younger. Elizabeth
succeeded her half-sister in 1558, and the Act of
Uniformity abolished the Roman Liturgy and firmly
established the Book of Common Prayer. Composers
resumed writing English anthems, although the practice
continued of setting Latin texts among composers
employed by Elizabeth's Chapel Royal.
Spem in alium (Latin for "Hope in any other") is a
40-part Renaissance motet by Thomas Tallis, composed in
c. 1570 for eight choirs of five voices each. It is
considered by some critics to be the greatest piece of
English early music. H. B. Collins described it in 1929
as Tallis's "crowning achievement", along with his
Lamentations. The early history of the work is obscure,
although there are some clues as to where it may have
been first performed. It is listed in a catalogue of
the library at Nonsuch Palace, a royal palace that was
sold in the 1550s to the Earl of Arundel, before
returning to the crown in the 1590s. The listing,
dating from 1596, describes it as "a song of fortie
partes, made by Mr. Tallys". The earliest surviving
manuscripts are those prepared in 1610 for the
investiture as Prince of Wales of Henry Frederick, the
son of James I.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Tallis).
Although originally written for 40 Voices, I created
this Interpretation of "Spem in Alium" (Hope in any
other) for Winds (Flute, Oboe, English Horn, French
Horn & Bassoon) & Strings (2 Violins, 2 Violas, 2
Cellos & Bass).
PARTITION