Tallis, Recorder enemble
Thanks for the Tallis and Vaughan-Williams.
Did anyone else enjoy the portrayal of Thomas Tallis in The Tudors, the four-season series on Showtime? It was probably apocryphal in fifty different ways, but still, I appreciated the attention bestowed on his phenomenal prowess. Joe Van Moyland played the part.
In one scene, after everyone freaks out over an outbreak of the “sweating sickness,” Henry VIII and his estranged first queen, Catherine of Aragon, are sitting together at a mass of thanksgiving for having been spared. At one point, Tallis’s music becomes so intensely imploring and beautiful that Henry gently takes Catherine’s hand. It’s very moving because we are led to believe that they haven't been intimate with each other for quite some time due to Henry’s courtship of Ann Boleyn. I could identify with that kind of power in Tallis’s music. The profound fear of plague also seemed very realistic when Henry and Ann first discover they are both survivors. A very well-acted embrace, I thought. The series broaches Tallis’s supposed bi-sexuality. I don’t mind such speculations because so many composers actually were gay.
Below is a heartfelt amateur performance (only one I could find) of Tallis’s “Blessed Are Those That Be Undefiled.” Somehow the composer survived the wrenchingly violent English Reformation, so he wrote equally well in both Latin and English. This is one of the English anthems featured in a Tallis Scholars CD but played here by an ensemble of recorders. Three-quarters of the way through, the anthem breaks into the Gloria Patri (the sung version of that is also in English), one of the best and most elaborate I’ve ever heard:
Someday I’ll try to post the Tallis Scholars version on YouTube. Everything they do seems like heavenly perfection.
The only extant portrait of Tallis, btw, was painted 150 years posthumously, so it is entirely based on imagination. Tallis composed and performed for Henry VIII only towards the end of Henry’s reign so the scene of Henry and Catherine listening together at the Chapel Royal was concocted for dramatic purposes. Even Ann Boleyn had been dead for at least 7 years when Tallis arrived at Henry VIII’s court. Henry himself died 4 years after Tallis’s arrival. Tallis also composed and performed for Edward VI, Bloody Mary, and Elizabeth I. The composer lived to be 80. Average life expectancy in 16h-c. England was approx. 35.
Btw, the term “undefiled” could be quite incendiary these days. Fundies might appropriate the term for one of their witch hunts. But I consider their tendency to focus on so-called sexual excesses to be totally misguided and reductive---mostly an all too convenient way to shift focus away from humanity’s real behavioral deficiencies, which are fairly massive. Sometimes it’s hard to reconcile modern and historical sensibilities. Either way, so much ancient art remains sublime, edifying and elevating.
Thanks for the Tallis and Vaughan-Williams.
Did anyone else enjoy the portrayal of Thomas Tallis in The Tudors, the four-season series on Showtime? It was probably apocryphal in fifty different ways, but still, I appreciated the attention bestowed on his phenomenal prowess. Joe Van Moyland played the part.
In one scene, after everyone freaks out over an outbreak of the “sweating sickness,” Henry VIII and his estranged first queen, Catherine of Aragon, are sitting together at a mass of thanksgiving for having been spared. At one point, Tallis’s music becomes so intensely imploring and beautiful that Henry gently takes Catherine’s hand. It’s very moving because we are led to believe that they haven't been intimate with each other for quite some time due to Henry’s courtship of Ann Boleyn. I could identify with that kind of power in Tallis’s music. The profound fear of plague also seemed very realistic when Henry and Ann first discover they are both survivors. A very well-acted embrace, I thought. The series broaches Tallis’s supposed bi-sexuality. I don’t mind such speculations because so many composers actually were gay.
Below is a heartfelt amateur performance (only one I could find) of Tallis’s “Blessed Are Those That Be Undefiled.” Somehow the composer survived the wrenchingly violent English Reformation, so he wrote equally well in both Latin and English. This is one of the English anthems featured in a Tallis Scholars CD but played here by an ensemble of recorders. Three-quarters of the way through, the anthem breaks into the Gloria Patri (the sung version of that is also in English), one of the best and most elaborate I’ve ever heard:
Someday I’ll try to post the Tallis Scholars version on YouTube. Everything they do seems like heavenly perfection.
The only extant portrait of Tallis, btw, was painted 150 years posthumously, so it is entirely based on imagination. Tallis composed and performed for Henry VIII only towards the end of Henry’s reign so the scene of Henry and Catherine listening together at the Chapel Royal was concocted for dramatic purposes. Even Ann Boleyn had been dead for at least 7 years when Tallis arrived at Henry VIII’s court. Henry himself died 4 years after Tallis’s arrival. Tallis also composed and performed for Edward VI, Bloody Mary, and Elizabeth I. The composer lived to be 80. Average life expectancy in 16h-c. England was approx. 35.
Btw, the term “undefiled” could be quite incendiary these days. Fundies might appropriate the term for one of their witch hunts. But I consider their tendency to focus on so-called sexual excesses to be totally misguided and reductive---mostly an all too convenient way to shift focus away from humanity’s real behavioral deficiencies, which are fairly massive. Sometimes it’s hard to reconcile modern and historical sensibilities. Either way, so much ancient art remains sublime, edifying and elevating.
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