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All roads lead to London

Fairly early in his career, we find Thomas Tallis working in London. Donald Macleod explores the circumstances that led him to the city.

Fairly early in his career, we find Thomas Tallis working in London. Donald Macleod explores the circumstances that led him to the city.

鈥淪o great a musician are you.....that if the Fates carried you off.....music would be mute.鈥 So wrote a contemporary of Thomas Tallis, showing us just how highly this composer was regarded in his own time. Over the course of this week, Donald Macleod traces the career of Tallis, unquestionably one of England's greatest ever composers. We follow him from the early faint mentions of the composer in Dover Priory, to his 40-plus years serving four successive monarchs as part of the Chapel Royal, and through the upheaval of one of the most tumultuous periods in all of English history.

Fairly early in his career, we find Thomas Tallis already working in London. In Monday鈥檚 episode, Donald explores the circumstances which led him to England鈥檚 capital city, and examines what the composer鈥檚 first impressions of the city must have been like.

O Sacrum Convivium
Choir of New College, Oxford
Edward Higginbottom, director

Lamentations of Jeremiah I & II
Hilliard Ensemble
Paul Hillier, director

Euge celi porta
Chapelle du Roi
Alistair Dixon, director

Alleluia. Per te Dei genitrix
Chapelle du Roi
Alistair Dixon, director

Ave, rosa sine spinis
Cardinall鈥檚 Musik
Andrew Carwood, director

When shall my sorrowful sighing slack
Gabriel Crouch, baritone
Elizabeth Kenny, lute

59 minutes

Last on

Mon 13 Feb 2023 12:00

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Music Played

  • Thomas Tallis

    Lamentations of Jeremiah

    Ensemble: The Hilliard Ensemble. Conductor: Paul Hillier.
    • ECM : 8333082.
    • ECM.
    • 1.
  • Thomas Tallis

    Euge caeli porta

    Choir: Chapelle du Roi. Conductor: Alistair Dixon.
    • Signum SIGCD001.
    • Signum.
    • 4.
  • Thomas Tallis

    Ave, rosa sine spinis

    Director: Andrew Carwood.
    • Hyperion CDA 68076.
    • Hyperion.
    • 4.
  • Thomas Tallis

    When shall my sorrowful sighing slake

    Performer: Elizabeth Kenny. Ensemble: Gallicantus. Director: Gabriel Crouch.
    • Signum Classics : SIGCD464.
    • Signum Classics.
    • 13.

Broadcast

  • Mon 13 Feb 2023 12:00

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