Thomas Tallis (c. 1505 – 23 November 1585) was an English composer. Tallis flourished as a church musician in 16th century England. He occupies a primary place in anthologies of English church music, and is considered among the best of England's early composers. He is honoured for his original voice in English musicianship.^[1] The only representation we have of Thomas Tallis was painted by Gerard van der Gucht 150 years after Tallis died, so we have no certainty that it is a likeness.^[2]

Contents 1 Life 1.1 Early years 1.2 Work with William Byrd 1.3 Death 2 Works 2.1 Early works 2.2 Later works 3 Media 4 See also 5 References 6 Notes 7 External links 8 Recordings

[edit] Life

[edit] Early years

Little is known about Tallis's early life, but there seems to be agreement that he was born in the early 16th century, toward the close of the reign of Henry VII.^[3] His first known appointment to a musical position was as organist of Dover Priory in 1530-31, a Benedictine priory at Dover (now Dover College) in 1532.^[4] His career took him to London, then (probably in the autumn of 1538) to the Augustinian abbey of Holy Cross at Waltham until the abbey was dissolved in 1540. Tallis acquired a volume at the dissolution of the monastery of Waltham Holy Cross and preserved it; one of the treatises in it was by Leonel Power, and the treatise itself prohibits consecutive unisons, fifths, and octaves.^[5]

Tallis's next post was at Canterbury Cathedral, and then finally he was sent to Court as Gentleman of the Chapel Royal in 1543 (which later became a Protestant establishment^[6]), composing and performing for Henry VIII during which he wrote music for the Church of England,^[7] Edward VI (1547-1553), Queen Mary (1553-1558), and Queen Elizabeth I (1558 until he died in 1585).^[8] Throughout his service to successive monarchs as organist and composer, Tallis avoided the religious controversies that raged around him, though, like William Byrd, he stayed an "unreformed Roman Catholic."^[9] Thomas Tallis was certainly a fully capable composer. He was able to easily switch his writing style even when the reigning monarchs demanded vastly different genres;^[10] he could even use counterpoint.^[11] Several of his contemporaries were not quite so able: Christopher Tye, and Robert White were also geniuses in their music, but Tallis was a giant among even the greats of the age. "He had more versatility of style than either, and his general handling of his material was more consistently easy and certain."^[12] Tallis was also a teacher, not only of William Byrd, but also of Elway Bevin, an organist of Bristol Cathedral and gentleman of the Chapel Royal.^[13]

Tallis married around 1552; his wife, Joan, eventually outlived him by four years. They apparently had no children. Late in his life he lived in Greenwich, likely close to the royal palace: a local tradition holds that he lived on Stockwell Street.^[14]

[edit] Work with William Byrd

Mary granted him a lease on a manor in Kent that provided a comfortable annual income.^[15] Elizabeth granted to Tallis and Byrd a twenty-one year monopoly in 1575 for polyphonic music^[16] and a patent to print and publish music, which was one of the first arrangements of that type in the country.^[17] Tallis' monopoly covered 'set songe or songes in parts, and he was able to compose in English, Latin, French, Italian, or other tongues as long as they served for music in the Church or chamber.^[18] Tallis had exclusive rights to print any music, in any language.^[19] He and William Byrd were the only ones allowed to use the paper that was used in printing music.^[20] Tallis and Byrd used their monopoly to produce Cantiones quae ab argumento sacrae vocantur but the piece did not sell well and they appealed to Queen Elizabeth for her support.^[21] Although Tallis and Byrd had exclusive rights to printing music, as with the Cantiones Sacrae, none of their efforts paid off until Byrd took over sole control after Tallis's death. This was not necessarily their fault, however. People were naturally wary of their new publications, and it certainly did not help their case that they were both unrepentant Catholics in a staunchly Protestant land.^[22] Not only that, they were strictly forbidden to sell any imported music. "We straightly by the same forbid...to be brought out of any forren Realmes...any songe or songes made and printed in any foreen countrie." Also, Byrd and Tallis were not given "the rights to music type fonts, printing patents were not under their command, and they didn't actually own a printing press."^[23]

Tallis and Byrd could work for two opposing religions as long as they did not bring their beliefs into their jobs.^[24] He retained respect during a succession of opposing religious movements and deflected the violence that claimed Catholics and Protestants alike.^[25] Tallis endured a difficult period during the time of the church and his music often displays characteristics of the turmoil.^[26]

[edit] Death

Thomas Tallis died peacefully in his house in Greenwich in November 1585. Most historians agree that he died on the twenty-third.^[27] He was buried in the chancel of the parish of St Alfege's Church.^[28] Unfortunately, the chancel Tallis was buried at has been long lost, torn down in 1720, and none of the memorials remain. Strype claims to have found a brass plate with an engraving on it, which reads:

Byrd wrote the musical elegy Ye Sacred Muses on Tallis's death.

[edit] Works

See List of compositions by Thomas Tallis

[edit] Early works

The earliest surviving works by Tallis, Salve intemerata virgo, Ave rosa sine spinis and Ave Dei patris filia are devotional antiphons to the Virgin Mary, which were used outside the liturgy and were cultivated in England until the fall of Cardinal Wolsey. Henry VIII's break with Roman Catholicism in 1534 and the rise of Thomas Cranmer noticeably influenced the style of music written. Texts became largely confined to the liturgy.^[30] The writing of Tallis and his contemporaries became less florid. Tallis's Mass for four voices is marked with tendencies toward a syllabic and chordal style and a diminished use of melisma. Tallis provides a rhythmic variety and differentiation of moods depending on the meaning of his texts.^[31] Tallis helped found a relationship that was specific to the combining of words and music.^[32] His focus was often on bringing out the subtleties in his works.^[33] He also wrote several excellent Lutheran chorales, although the practice was not particularly popular.^[34]

The reformed Anglican liturgy was inaugurated during the short reign of Edward VI (1547-1553),^[35] and Tallis was one of the first church musicians to write anthems set to English words, although Latin continued to be used.^[36] The Catholic Mary Tudor set about undoing the religious reforms of the preceding decades. Following the accession of the Catholic Mary in 1553, the Roman Rite was restored and compositional style reverted to the elaborate writing prevalent early in the century.^[37] Two of Tallis's major works, Gaude gloriosa Dei Mater and the Christmas Mass Puer natus est nobis are believed to be from this period. Only Puer natus est nobis can be accurately dated in 1554. As was the prevailing practice, these pieces were intended to exalt the image of the Queen as well as to praise the Mother of God.^[38]

Some of Tallis's works were compiled and printed in the Mulliner Book by Thomas Mulliner before Queen Elizabeth's reign, and may have been used by the queen herself when she was younger. Elizabeth succeeded her half-sister in 1558, and the Act of Settlement in the following year abolished the Roman Liturgy^[39] and firmly established the Book of Common Prayer.^[40] Composers at court resumed writing English anthems, although the practice of setting Latin texts continued, growing more peripheral over time.

The mood of the country in the beginning of Elizabeth's reign leant toward the puritan, which discouraged the liturgical polyphony. Tallis wrote nine psalm chant tunes for four voices for Archbishop Parker's Psalter, published in 1567.^[41] One of the nine tunes, the "Third Mode Melody", inspired the composition of Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis by Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1910.^[42] Tallis's better-known works from the Elizabethan years include his settings of the Lamentations (of Jeremiah the Prophet)^[43] for the Holy Week services and the unique motet Spem in alium written for eight five-voice choirs.^[44] It is thought that this 40-voice piece was part of a celebration of the Queen's 40th birthday in 1573. Tallis is mostly remembered for his role in composing office hymns and this motet, Spem in alium.^[45] Too often we forget to look at his compositions for other monarchs; several of Tallis's anthems written in Edward's reign such as his If ye love me, ought to be considered on the same level as his Elizabethan works.^[46] This is partially because we do not have all of his works from previous periods; eleven of eighteen Latin-texted pieces by Tallis from Elizabeth's reign were published, "which ensured their survival in a way not available to the earlier material."^[47]

[edit] Later works

Toward the end of his life, Tallis resisted the musical development seen in his younger contemporaries such as William Byrd, who embraced compositional complexity and adopted texts built by combining disparate biblical extracts.^[48] Tallis' experiments during this time period were considered rather unusual.^[49] Tallis was content to draw his texts from the Liturgy^[50] and wrote for the worship services in the Chapel Royal.^[51]

[edit] Media

	Lamentatione Jeremiae Prophetae Recorded live in Madonna dei Monti, Rome by The Tudor Consort in November 2005 (5Mb) If ye love me (2Mb)
Problems listening to these files? See media help.

[edit] See also

• The Tallis Scholars, a modern group of musicians specializing in vocal music from the Renaissance.
• Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis, 1910 musical composition by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

[edit] References

• Barber, David W. Bach, Beethoven, and the Boys: Music History As It Ought to Be Taught. Toronto Sound and Vision, 1996.
• Barber, David W. If It Ain’t Baroque: More Music History As It Ought to Be Taught. Toronto Sound and Vision, 1992.
• Cole, Suzanne. Thomas Tallis and his Music in Victorian England. Great Britain: Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham, Wiltshire, 2008.
• Cohn-Sherbok, Lavinia. Who’s Who in Christianity. London, New York Routledge, 1998.
• Doe, Paul and Allinson, David : Thomas Tallis, Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 5 May 2007), (subscription access)
• Farrell, Joseph. Latin Language and Latin Culture: From Ancient to Modern Times. New York Cambridge University Press, 2001.
• Gatens. Tallis: Works, all. American Record Guide 68.3 (May-June 2005): 181.
• Holman, Peter. Dowland: Lachrimae (1604); Cambridge Music Handbooks. Cambridge University Press, 1999.
• Lord, Suzanne.; Brinkman, David. Music From the Age of Shakespeare: A Cultural History. Westport, Conn Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003.
• Manderson, Desmond. Songs Without Music: Aesthetic Dimensions of Law and Justice. University of California Press, 2000.
• Phillips, Peter. Sign of Contradiction: Tallis at 500. Musical Times 146 (Summer 2005): 7-15.
• Shrock, Dennis. Choral Repetoire. Oxford University Press, 2009.
• Steinberg, Michael. Choral Masterworks: A Listener’s Guide. New York Oxford Press, 2005.
• St. James Palace; Rimbault, Edward F. The Old Cheque-Book. Chapel Royal. Westminster: J.B, Nichols and Sons.
• Thomas, Jane Resh. Behind the Mask: The Life of Queen Elizabeth I. New York Houghton-Muffin Trade and Reference, 1998.
• Steinberg, Michael. Choral Masterworks: A Listener’s Guide. New York Oxford Press, 2005.
• Walker, Ernest. A History of Music in England. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1952

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Thomas Tallis

• BBC Radio 3 Discovering Music program on Spem in Alium and related works
• Free scores by Thomas Tallis in the Werner Icking Music Archive (WIMA)
• Listen to free recordings of Latin church music and English church music from Umeå Akademiska Kör
• The Mutopia Project has compositions by Thomas Tallis
• Free scores by Thomas Tallis in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
• Free scores by Thomas Tallis in the International Music Score Library Project

[edit] Recordings

• William Byrd and Thomas Tallis, In Chains of Gold. Dunedin Consort, DCD34008