Gimell UK
2004
The Tallis Scholars Sing Thomas Tallis
About This Album
When you see a title like The Tallis Scholars Sing Thomas Tallis, you know the music's going to be right, sort of like when you hear Aretha Franklin sing in Detroit, or hear an oversize band of Central Europeans play Mahler. And so it is. This disc compiles Tallis Scholars recordings from 1985, 1986, 1992, and 1998 for the purpose of, per the jacket, "celebrating the 500th anniversary of Thomas Tallis" (they mean birth, not wedding). The performances are classics, and better still, this reissue is not just about trying to mine continued profits from the same lode: Gimell's decision to release two packed-to-the-max CDs of Tallis Scholars Tallis allows the listener to become immersed in what director Peter Phillips calls Tallis' "ability to create masterpieces in whatever style was the currency of the day." Tallis was (again quoting Phillips) an "arch-survivor," composing dense, sumptuous motets for Catholic rulers, creating beautiful miniatures like the well-known If Ye Love Me under the severe regime of early Anglicanism, and summing up his career with major masterpieces like Spem in alium under Queen Elizabeth's golden reign. The disc leads off with that mysterious 40-voice motet, which has been recorded in various ways.
Track List

Disc 1

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Disc 2

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