Tallis: Sacred Choral Works

View record and artist details

Record and Artist Details

Composer or Director: Thomas Tallis

Label: Hyperion

Magazine Review Date: 5/1990

Media Format: Cassette

Media Runtime: 0

Mastering:

DDD

Catalogue Number: KA66400

Tracks:

Composition	Artist Credit
O salutaris hostia	Thomas Tallis, Composer David Hill, Conductor Thomas Tallis, Composer Winchester Cathedral Choir
In jejunio et fletu	Thomas Tallis, Composer David Hill, Conductor Thomas Tallis, Composer Winchester Cathedral Choir
Salvator mundi, salva nos I	Thomas Tallis, Composer David Hill, Conductor Thomas Tallis, Composer Winchester Cathedral Choir
Salvator mundi, salva nos II	Thomas Tallis, Composer David Hill, Conductor Thomas Tallis, Composer Winchester Cathedral Choir
In manus tuas	Thomas Tallis, Composer David Hill, Conductor Thomas Tallis, Composer Winchester Cathedral Choir
Lamentations of Jeremiah	Thomas Tallis, Composer David Hill, Conductor Thomas Tallis, Composer Winchester Cathedral Choir
O sacrum convivium	Thomas Tallis, Composer David Hill, Conductor Thomas Tallis, Composer Winchester Cathedral Choir
O nata lux de lumine	Thomas Tallis, Composer David Hill, Conductor Thomas Tallis, Composer Winchester Cathedral Choir
Te lucis ante terminum I	Thomas Tallis, Composer David Hill, Conductor Thomas Tallis, Composer Winchester Cathedral Choir
Spem in alium	Thomas Tallis, Composer David Hill, Conductor Thomas Tallis, Composer Timothy Byram-Wigfield, Organ Winchester Cathedral Choir Winchester Quiristers Winchester Vocal Arts

Composer or Director: Thomas Tallis

Genre:

Vocal

Label: Hyperion

Magazine Review Date: 5/1990

Media Format: CD or Download

Media Runtime: 59

Mastering:

DDD

Catalogue Number: CDA66400

Tracks:

Composition	Artist Credit
O salutaris hostia	Thomas Tallis, Composer David Hill, Conductor Thomas Tallis, Composer Winchester Cathedral Choir
In jejunio et fletu	Thomas Tallis, Composer David Hill, Conductor Thomas Tallis, Composer Winchester Cathedral Choir
Salvator mundi, salva nos I	Thomas Tallis, Composer David Hill, Conductor Thomas Tallis, Composer Winchester Cathedral Choir
Salvator mundi, salva nos II	Thomas Tallis, Composer David Hill, Conductor Thomas Tallis, Composer Winchester Cathedral Choir
In manus tuas	Thomas Tallis, Composer David Hill, Conductor Thomas Tallis, Composer Winchester Cathedral Choir
Lamentations of Jeremiah	Thomas Tallis, Composer David Hill, Conductor Thomas Tallis, Composer Winchester Cathedral Choir
O sacrum convivium	Thomas Tallis, Composer David Hill, Conductor Thomas Tallis, Composer Winchester Cathedral Choir
O nata lux de lumine	Thomas Tallis, Composer David Hill, Conductor Thomas Tallis, Composer Winchester Cathedral Choir
Te lucis ante terminum I	Thomas Tallis, Composer David Hill, Conductor Thomas Tallis, Composer Winchester Cathedral Choir
Spem in alium	Thomas Tallis, Composer David Hill, Conductor Thomas Tallis, Composer Timothy Byram-Wigfield, Organ Winchester Cathedral Choir Winchester Quiristers Winchester Vocal Arts

Author:

Never before has Spem in alium, Tallis's great 40-part motet, so closely resembled the Last Judgement as it does in this vast and awesome performance. So hugely resonant is the cavernous space of Winchester Cathedral that the choir seem to be amplified into a cast of thousands. Awesome too is David Hill's vision of the work, with its surges of volume and monumental tutti entries contrasting with moments of exquisite delicacy. Local detail, inevitably, disappears under the wash of noise; so do the thrilling exchanges between the eight choirs, exploited so dramatically in other performances. Instead it is the sheer bulk of the sound, hanging thick in the air, that impresses.
It's magnificent, but is it true to the spirit of the work? Tallis composed Spem in alium to a commission from two leading Catholic magnates, and the earliest performances must have taken place in secular buildings or even the open air, not in large, reverberant churches. In anything other than a reasonably dry acoustic the 40 parts fail to register their independence and individuality, and Tallis's skilful polyphony coagulates into a succession of huge block chords. If respect for the inner workings of the score is the yardstick by which success is to be measured, then the versions by The Tallis Scholars (Gimell) and the Taverner Choir on EMI (compared in 5/89) certainly have the edge over the Winchester performance. This is not to deny that Hill's interpretation has a special and supremely atmospheric appeal; but the appeal is sensual rather than intellectual, and the gain in sonority is at the expense of the music's internal comprehensibility.
The Cathedral leaves its mark on the other, smaller motets, which are uniformly sung on the slow side. Hill has trained his trebles to produce the same spectacularly soaring sostenuto that became the hallmark of the Westminster Cathedral choristers under his direction, and the supportive acoustic makes it possible to achieve the effect of huge, sculpted melodic lines. It is a distinctive and characteristic sound; but is it appropriate for late Tallis? Most of the motets included here were conceived as chamber music, not church repertoire. They reveal a different beauty, arguably a more intense one, when sung with greater intimacy. Undoubtedly the music can bear Hill's incense-laden style, and listeners who insist on a cathedral-size choir for their Tallis cannot do better than this. But I for one will stick with the Taverner Choir and, in particular, The Tallis Scholars, both of whom place greater store on revealing the music's human scale.
Finally, a few random comments. The choir's tuning and blend are impeccable throughout, but there is a certain sameness in the singing (Spem apart) which occasionally borders on monotony. The men's voices, though not quite of the quality of the trebles, is still astonishingly good for the choir of a choral foundation. Nevertheless the pieces for men alone—in particular the two Lamentations, correctly treated here as independent motets—are the least engaging items. One motet, O salutaris hostia, is recorded for the first time, but in an edition that is remote from Tallis's intentions. Production and sound-quality are superb, though Spem stretched my loudspeakers to their absolute limit.'