Thomas Tallis (ca. 1505 - 1585) was Organist of the
Royal Chapels to King Henry VIII, King Edward VI, Queen
Mary, and Queen Elizabeth. He was esteem'd a most
excellent Composer of Church Music, at least equal to
any Contemporary, either of his own Country or of
Foreign Nations; and was the first who compos'd the
Musical Part of our Divine Service in the English
Language. He, in conjunction with William Bird, a
Musician of great Eminence, who had been his Scholar,
obtain'd of Queen Elizabeth, in ...(+)
Thomas Tallis (ca. 1505 - 1585) was Organist of the
Royal Chapels to King Henry VIII, King Edward VI, Queen
Mary, and Queen Elizabeth. He was esteem'd a most
excellent Composer of Church Music, at least equal to
any Contemporary, either of his own Country or of
Foreign Nations; and was the first who compos'd the
Musical Part of our Divine Service in the English
Language. He, in conjunction with William Bird, a
Musician of great Eminence, who had been his Scholar,
obtain'd of Queen Elizabeth, in the Year of our Lord
1575, Letters Patent, by which they claim'd the
exclusive Right of printing all Ruled Paper, as well as
of all Music Books, for the Term of 21 Years. He died
November 23d, 1585, and was buried at Greenwich in
Kent. (Greenwich is, in fact, in Greater London.)
The earliest surviving works by Tallis are Ave Dei
patris filia, Magnificat for four voices, and two
devotional antiphons to the Virgin Mary, Salve
intemerata virgo and Ave rosa sine spinis, 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. Tallis'
early works also suggest the influence of John Taverner
and Robert Fayrfax. Taverner in particular is quoted in
Salve intemerata virgo, and his later work, Dum
transisset sabbatum.
Toward the end of his life, Tallis resisted the musical
development seen in his younger contemporaries such as
Byrd, who embraced compositional complexity and adopted
texts of disparate biblical extracts. Tallis was
content to draw his texts from the Liturgy and wrote
for the worship services in the Chapel Royal. He
composed during the conflict between Catholicism and
Protestantism, and his music often displays
characteristics of the turmoil.
Although originally composed for Chorus (STTBarB), I
created this Interpretation of "In jejunio et fletu
orabant sacerdotes" (In fasting and weeping the priests
prayed) for Wind Quartet (Flute, Oboe, English Horn,
French Horn & Bassoon).
SHEET MUSIC