Tallis Scholars reviews
Josquin: Missa Hercules Dux Ferrarie, etc
Josquin des Prés: Missa Gaudeamus; Missa L’ami Baudichon
The latest instalment of works by Josquin des Prés by the Tallis Scholars
'This is the seventh of nine projected discs in The Tallis Scholars' ongoing endeavour to record the complete Masses of Josquin des Prés. Using just nine singers gives an intimacy to these readings and ensures clear-cut words and sharply delineated vocal lines.
'The vocal balance is sensitively judged, and Gimell's recording - in the chapel of Merton College, Oxford. is lush without being overly splashy.'
Josquin des Prés
Missa Gaudeamus; Missa L'ami Baudichon
Tallis Scholars/Peter Phillips
Gimell CDGIM 050 66:48 mins
The Tallis Scholars perform Josquin's Missa Di Dadi and Missa Une mousse de Biscaye
The Tallis Scholars have for some years now been recording the masses of the great early Renaissance composer Josquin des Prez (d1521), and this brings their tally to 12 with a few more to go. Neither work here, both based on chanson tunes, is absolutely securely by Josquin, but still this is glorious music.
The Tallis Scholars Perform John Taverner's Missa Corona spinea
The Tallis Scholars: Missa Gloria tibi Trinitas, Taverner
It would be hard to think of a more fitting work to celebrate The Tallis Scholars’ 40th anniversary than Taverner’s Missa Gloria tibi Trinitas, a towering monument of 16th-century English polyphony that showcases the ensemble’s singers, from the soaring sopranos to the sepulchral basses. With its wide-ranging vocal registers and long-breathed polyphonic lines, the Mass demands an extraordinary degree of virtuosity as well intense concentration and stamina throughout its 40 or so minutes.