Tallis: Gaude gloriosa Dei mater

‘This superbly sung selection of some of his finest Latin church music will surely prove to be one of Tallis’s very best 500th birthday presents. It is hard to imagine a better performance of the magnificent six-part votive antiphon Gaude gloriosa’ (The Daily Telegraph)

“The Tallis Scholars produce a distilled, transparent sound and the spiritual tone of their performance is one of serene contemplation through which the Requiem's ecstatic 'external light' shines.” BBC Music Magazine, September 2005 *****

“[In Spem in alium] Parrott's sure touch tells in the form: the first entry is clear and confident...the first Mexican wave spreads inexorably, the arrival on the second tutti rings out like a clarion-call, the antiphonal section doesn't flag, the initial 'Respice' is solemn and arresting, and the final tutti gloriously full-bodied.” Gramophone Magazine, February 2010

“For the 1985 quatercentenary of Tallis's death, Peter Phillips and The Tallis Scholars produced this version of Spem in alium; in many respects it's clearly the most successful ever recorded.
Not only is the choir superb and the interpretation an intelligent one; this is also the only recording in which the eight choirs seem genuinely to sing from different positions in the stereo spread, a technical achievement that leads to some thrilling antiphonal exchanges. Above all, Phillips's reading is a confident and assertive one. The effect is more that of a plea than a prayer, and the overall shaping is most characterful.
Inevitably there are problems of balance, both at the top of the texture (several of the trebles are given rather too much prominence) and in the middle, where in full sections the music of the inner voices sometimes blends too readily into rich chords rather than emerging as a complex web of counterpoint. But these are relatively small complaints to be made against an outstanding achievement. This is a Spem inalium to be cherished.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“The illuminating insert-notes place Mary's short reign within the bewilderingly stormy context of the 16th century with a calm understanding that enables the listener to see how this Latin music came to be written. Incidentally, the first piece was originally an English setting of Beatus vir. Sandon says it falls naturally into place with its Latin text. But the verses in the booklet don't exactly correspond to what's being sung, which raises an unnecessary question mark. Sandon's edition of the Proper Salisbury chants for the Third Mass of Christmas are performed between the polyphonic items. Meticulously researched, they serve as a foil to the sumptuous settings of the Ordinary.
If only they had been sung with more solemnity and gusto, omitting those irritating little bursts of volume on the high notes! All these chants would have sounded more authentic at a slower tempo with the occasional semi-metrical dactyl: as it is, they comes across rather as a poor relation beside the magnificence of Tallis's seven-part polyphony.
The polyphonic singing is exemplary, the clarity of the individual parts and the rhythmic interplay well under control. The singers enter into the spirit of the liturgical texts, in particular in the third section of the Agnus Dei. Their interpretation of the final motet, Gaude gloriosa, at times almost touches the visionary.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010