Sacred Music: Thomas Tallis 1505?-1585
Spem in Alium / Videte Miraculum / Lamentations of Jeremiah / Eight Tunes for Archbishop Parker's Psalter
Tuesday 10 March 1992, 8pm
Pre-concert talk 7.30pm
Wellington Cathedral of St Paul
Cnr Molesworth and Hill St
Wellington
Directed by Simon Ravens
Thomas Tallis was arguably the most versatile composer before Stravinsky, and one of the most prodigiously gifted of any age. This concert reflected the diversity of musical styles encompassed by Tallis's religious works; from the simple writing of the Eight Tunes for Archbishop Parker's Psalter to the complexity of Salve intemerata virgo; from the plainsong organ hymn Ecce tempus to the massive polyphonic canvas of the 40-part motet Spem in alium; from the austere minature Hear the voice and prayer for men's voices to the radiant and sonorous Videte miraculum. Although diverse in style, together these works give evidence that Tallis's mastery as a composer of sacred music encompassed virtually every idiom of the time.
Programme
Miserere nostri
O nata lux
Suscipe, quaeso Domine
Salve intemerata Virgo
Ecce tempus idoneum
Hear the voice and prayer
Videte miraculum
Lamentations of Jeremiah I
Spem in alium
Eight Tunes for Archbishop Parker's Psalter