Oxford, 1978. During renovation work at Corpus Christi College, a stack of scores is discovered behind a plastered wall. The fragments are immediately identified as the six-voice Gaude gloriosa dei mater by bishop and composer Thomas Tallis.
Remarkably, the music does not go together with the original Latin, but rather with an English text written by none other than the sixth and last wife of King Henry VIII, Katherine Parr. The CD Thomas Tallis, Queen Katherine Parr & Songs of Reformation is the first performance of the work in nearly five centuries and a real hit.
In 1544, Henry VIII conducted a military campaign against Scotland and France. To encourage the people to pray for her husband's victory, Queen Katherine Parr wrote the Reformation-inspired Psalms or Prayers, which she also published. One of her texts, the sharp and grave Agaynst Enemies, she adapted and set to the music of Thomas Tallis's Gaude gloriosa dei mater, resulting in Se lord and behold.
This version remained unknown until 1978, and it wasn't until a few years ago that the author of the text could be identified, and even that any research was conducted on it at all. David Skinner, who attributes the unknown English text to Katherine Parr, is precisely the right person to conduct an ensemble performing this work for the first time in more than 470 years. Gorgeously pure sopranos and excellent tenors make this CD a treat for the ear.
The ensemble Alamire under the musical direction of ensemble Fretwork naturally did not limit themselves to a 17-minute work by Tallis/Parr that is merely the last track on the CD. Along with other choral music, both in Latin and English, the musicians provided beautiful interpretations of purely instrumental works by Tallis, such as When Jesus went or Solfaing Song.
Fretwork delivers excellent work with its interpretation of Tallis's music, and the purely instrumental works, which typically last only two minutes, provide a pleasant break between the shorter and longer choral works. In particular, Edwart Grint deserves mention for convincingly and skillfully performing the role of cantor in the five-voice The Litany. Performing the semi-Gregorian character of this work correctly is no easy task.
In short, Thomas Tallis, Queen Katherine Parr & Songs of Reformation is a magnificent CD with … and moreover a premiere as the first and only recording of Se Lord and behold.
- WHAT: CD Thomas Tallis, Queen Katherine Parr & Songs of Reformation
- WHO: ensemble Alamire and ensemble Fretwork conducted by David Skinner
- LABEL: Obsidian Records (CD716)
- PHOTOS: © Obsidian
