Saturday, 29 August 2015

The Tallis Scholars - Perfect Polyphony



Rating: 5/5

Review:
An excellent selection



This is an excellent introduction to The Tallis Scholars.  Wrinked old retainers like me who have been listening to them for decades and have most or all of their recordings won't need a collection like this, but this is ideal for anyone wanting a sample of their best work, which comprises some of the finest recordings of Renaissance polyphony over the last forty years.  The purity, precision, spiritual power and sheer beauty of The Tallis Scholars' singing is there in abundance in some truly great music.

The programme is Peter Philips's personal choice of pieces which, as he explains in the notes, are selected for a variety of reasons.  Needless to say my personal double CD of favourites would differ from this but that's inevitable, and many, like those by Browne, Mouton and Tallis would also appear in my selection.  Personal favourites aside, it's still a superb collection and very, very warmly recommended.

The works aren't entirely clear on this page, so I thought a list might be helpful:
Palestrina – Missa Papae Marcelli (2007 recording)
Victoria – Versa est in luctum
Gesualdo – Ave, dulcissima Maria
Mouton – Salva nos, Domine
Mouton – Ave Maria…virgo serena
Gombert – Magnificat 6 (sexti & primi toni)
Browne – Stabat iuxta
Tallis – Lamentations of Jeremiah I & II
Brumel - Lamentations of Jeremiah
Ferrabosco - Lamentations of Jeremiah
Isaac – Optime pastor
Josquin – Missa Ave maris stella

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