Thomas Tallis

Music Home >> Music Genres >> Undetermined Music



< < < < < > > > > > More Info on Thomas Tallis Similar Undetermined Music Search Artistopia

Biography

Thomas Tallis (c. 1505 – 23 November 1585) was an English composer. Tallis flourished as a church musician in 16th century Tudor period|Tudor 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.Farrell, J: Latin Language and Latin Culture: From Ancient to Modern Times , page 125. New York Cambridge University Press, 2001. No contemporary portrait of Tallis survives: the earliest, painted by Gerard van der Gucht , dates from 150& nbsp;years after Tallis died, and there is no certainty that it is a likeness.Cole, Suzanne. Thomas Tallis and his Music in Victorian England , page 62. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell, 2008.

Life

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 of England|Henry VII . We do not know much about Tallis's childhood and his significance with music at that age but there are suggestions that he was a child of the chapel royal St. James's palace, the same singing establishment which he then later went to as a man Walker, Ernest. A History of Music in England , page 48 Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1952 His first known appointment to a musical position was as Organ (music)|organist of Dover Priory in 1530–31, a Benedictine priory at Dover (now Dover College ) in 1532.Lord, Suzanne.; Brinkman, David. Music From the Age of Shakespeare: A Cultural History , page 197. Westport, Conn Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003. His career took him to London, then (probably in the autumn of 1538) to the Augustinian abbey of Christian cross|Holy Cross at Waltham Abbey (abbey)|Waltham until the abbey was Dissolution of the Monasteries|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.Walker 19–20

Tallis's next post was at Canterbury Cathedral . He was next sent to Court as Gentleman of the Chapel Royal in 1543 (which later became a Protestant establishmentFarrell 125), where he composed and performed for Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII ,Holman, Peter. Dowland: Lachrimae (1604) , page 201. Cambridge Music Handbooks. Cambridge University Press, 1999. Edward VI of England|Edward VI (1547–1553), Mary I of England|Queen Mary (1553–1558), and Elizabeth I of England|Queen Elizabeth I (1558 until Tallis died in 1585).Thomas, Jane Resh. Behind the Mask: The Life of Queen Elizabeth I , page 136. New York Houghton-Muffin Trade and Reference, 1998. 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."Peter Ackroyd Albion: The Origins of the English Imagination ( New York: First Anchor Books, 2004), 184 Tallis was capable of switching the style of his compositions to suit the different monarchs' vastly different demands.Phillips, Peter. “Sign of Contradiction: Tallis at 500”, page 8. Musical Times 146 (Summer 2005): 7–15. Among other important composers of the time, including Christopher Tye and Robert White (composer)|Robert White , Tallis stood out. Walker observes, "He had more versatility of style than either, and his general handling of his material was more consistently easy and certain."Walker 58–59 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.Walker 75

Tallis married around 1552; his wife, Joan, outlived him by four years. They apparently had no children. Late in his life he lived in Greenwich , possibly close to the royal palace: a local tradition holds that he lived on Stockwell Street.Paul Doe/David Allinson, Grove online

Work with William Byrd

Queen Mary granted Tallis a lease on a manor in Kent that provided a comfortable annual income.Cole 93 In 1575, Queen Elizabeth granted to him and William Byrd a 21-year monopoly for polyphony|polyphonic music Holman 1 and a patent to print and publish music, which was one of the first arrangements of that type in the country.Lord 69 Tallis's monopoly covered 'set songe or songes in parts', and he composed in English, Latin, French, Italian, or other tongues as long as they served for music in the Church or chamber.Holman 1 Tallis had exclusive rights to print any music, in any language. He and William Byrd were the only ones allowed to use the paper that was used in printing music. 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.Holman 1 People were naturally wary of their new publications, and it certainly did not help their case that they were both avowed Roman Catholics.Lord 69 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."Lord 70

Tallis retained respect during a succession of opposing religious movements and deflected the violence that claimed Catholics and Protestants alike.Gatens. "Tallis: Works, all." American Record Guide 68.3 (May–June 2005): 181.

Death

Thomas Tallis died peacefully in his house in Greenwich in November 1585. Most historians agree that he died on the twenty-third.St. James Palace; Rimbault, Edward F. The Old Cheque-Book , page 192. Chapel Royal. Westminster: J.B, Nichols and Sons. He was buried in the chancel of the parish of St Alfege's Church, Greenwich|St Alfege's Church in Greenwich .Lord 199 The chancel was 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:

“Entered here doth ly a worthy wyght,
Who for long tyme in musick bore the bell:
His name to shew, was THOMAS TALLYS hyght,
In honest virtuous lyff he dyd excell.

“He serv’d long tyme in chappel with grete prayse
Fower sovereygnes reygnes (a thing not often seen);
I meane Kyng Henry and Prynce Edward’s dayes,
Quene Mary, and Elizabeth oure Quene.

“He mary’d was, though children he had none,
And lyv’d in love full thre and thirty yeres
Wyth loyal spowse, whose name yclypt was JONE,
Who here entomb’d him company now beares.

“As he dyd lyve, so also did he dy,
In myld and quyet sort (O happy man!)
To God ful oft for mercy did he cry,
Wherefore he lyves, let deth do what he can.”Rimbault 192–193

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

Veneration

Tallis is honoured together with William Byrd and John Merbecke with a feast day on the Calendar of saints (Episcopal Church in the United States of America)|liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA) on 21 November.

Works

:See List of compositions by Thomas Tallis

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 of England|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.Shrock, Dennis. Choral Repertoire , page 136. Oxford University Press, 2009. The writing of Tallis and his contemporaries became less florid. Tallis's Mass for four voices is marked with tendencies toward a syllabic (which is a setting of text where each syllable is sung to one pitch) and chordal (consisting of or emphasising chords) style and a diminished use of melisma . Tallis provides a rhythmic variety and differentiation of moods depending on the meaning of his texts.Manderson, Desmond. Songs Without Music: Aesthetic Dimensions of Law and Justice , page 86. University of California Press, 2000. Tallis helped found a relationship that was specific to the combining of words and music.Phillips 11 He also wrote several excellent Lutheran chorales.Walker 396

The reformed Anglican liturgy was inaugurated during the short reign of Edward VI (1547–53),Lord 75 and Tallis was one of the first church musicians to write anthems set to English words, although Latin continued to be used.Lord 200 The Catholic Mary I of England|Mary Tudor set about undoing the religious reforms of the preceding decades. Following her accession in 1553, the Roman Rite was restored and compositional style reverted to the elaborate writing prevalent early in the century.Shrock 148 Two of Tallis's major works, and the Christmas Mass Puer natus est nobis are believed to be from this period. Only Puer natus est nobis can be accurately dated to 1554. As was the prevailing practice, these pieces were intended to exalt the image of the Queen regnant|Queen as well as to praise the Mother of God .Shrock 148

Some of Tallis's works were compiled and printed in the The Mulliner Book|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 LiturgyFarrell 125 and firmly established the Book of Common Prayer .Thomas 89 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 Tunes for Archbishop Parker's Psalter|nine psalm chant tunes for four voices for Matthew Parker|Archbishop Parker 's Psalter, published in 1567.Lord 86 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.Steinberg, Michael. Choral Masterworks: A Listener’s Guide , page 291 New York Oxford Press, 2005. Tallis's better-known works from the Elizabethan years include his settings of the Lamentations (music)|Lamentations (of Jeremiah the Prophet) Cole 93 for the Holy Week services and the unique motet Spem in alium written for eight five-voice choirs. Tallis is mostly remembered for his role in composing office hymns and this motet, Spem in alium . 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.Phillips 11 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."Phillips 13

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.Phillips 9 Tallis's experiments during this time period were considered rather unusual.Phillips 11 Tallis was content to draw his texts from the Liturgy Farrell 125 and wrote for the worship services in the Chapel Royal .Farrell 125 Tallis composed during a difficult period during the conflict between Catholicism and Protestantism, and his music often displays characteristics of the turmoil.Gatens 181

Fictional portrayals

A fictionalised Thomas Tallis (The Tudors)|Thomas Tallis was portrayed by Joe Van Moyland in 2007 on the Showtime (TV network)|Showtime television series The Tudors , loosely based upon the early reign of Henry VIII.

Copyright Citations

This article is licensed under the GNU License
Click here for original article: Thomas Tallis


1. Fantasia 2. Ralph Vaughan Williams 3. Anthem 4. Ashtray Boy 5. Judith 6. Renaissance 7. John Dowland 8. Choir 9. Vaughan Williams 10. Huelgas Ensemble 11. Dowland 12. Elgar

Undetermined Music Artists