Thomas Tallis

English Renaissance Music

A recital which contrasts the inspirational work of Thomas Tallis, Christopher Tye and John Sheppard

After the enormous success last year of their recording of Bach Motets (476 5776), the Hilliard Ensemble turn their attention to music of the English Renaissance and specifically, works by three 16th century composers, Tallis, Tye and Sheppard. While Christopher Tye might be branded one of the lesser-known figures of the English Renaissance, and John Sheppard perhaps the more esoteric, Thomas Tallis stands as the most important and accomplished musician of the Tudor period. All three, however, were masters of polyphony, associated with the Chapel Royal. The music here is not a sampling of the (much-recorded) music for the new Prayer Book but a survey of the earliest examples of the impact of reform on musical composition, namely from the last decades of Henry VIII’s reign. The works of Tallis, Tye and Sheppard are alternated and contrasted throughout this beautifully constructed recital, recorded, like many of the Hilliard Ensemble’s CDs, in the splendid, crystal-clear acoustics of the Sankt Gerold monastery in the Austrian Alps. Tallis has long been an inspirational figure for the Hilliards, who had a huge success with their recording of his Lamentations of Jeremiah (833 3082) in 1986 - one of their first ECM New Series discs - and also brought his music into their collaboration with Jan Garbarek on Mnemosyne (465 1222).

The Rose Consort of Viols

The Rose Consort of Viols explore the repertoire of 4 important English composers - Thomas Tallis, Christopher Tye, William Byrd & Thomas Tomkins

The King's Singers Collection

5 CD's for price of 2. (CD's also available separately - Gesualdo SIGCD048, Six SIGCD056, 1605 Treason & Dischord SIGCD061, Spem in Alium SIGCD071 & Landscape & Time SIGCD090)

Libera - New Dawn

This album features both classical tracks and pop arrangements, such as Enya’s Orinoco Flow and Bach’s Air on a G string; the disc also includes a track penned by Brian Wilson called ‘Love and Mercy’. This is the song Libera performed to a star-studded audience in Washington DC before Christmas at the Kennedy Centre Honours, an audience which included President Bush, Robert De Niro, Cameron Diaz and Brian Wilson himself. The talented singers of Libera come from a variety of different schools and backgrounds in London and join together at a church in South London where they rehearse and perform for many hours each week. The youngest is seven and the oldest members are fourteen.

Christmas Vespers at Westminster Cathedral

This disc presents an adorned version of the Office of Vespers as it might be heard on the eve of Christmas in Westminster Cathedral, a building steeped in art, music and spirituality.

Tallis: Spem in alium for eight five-part choirs '40-part Motet'

(includes interview with the King's Singers)

XL

Choral works for 40 voices

Tallis - Spem in alium

Christmas with the Tallis Scholars