Holy Week with Thomas Tallis

Thomas Tallis
There were no contemporary portraits made of Tallis,
this was painted over 150 years after his death by
 Gerard van der Gucht.

 As part of the Anglican tradition, Holy Week rarely passes without some deference to that great English composer, Thomas Tallis.  As the Chapel Royal composer from 1542 until his death in 1585, Tallis composed exclusively for liturgical settings. His music has never suffered a period of complete obscurity as happens with many early composers. Partly, this may have been due to his royal  position, but mostly his music owes its popularity to the beauty of the sound and ease of its performance.  It’s curious that in spite of the great volume of church music he composed, very little of it was specifically composed for Easter and Holy Week.  Yet that which was is very recognizable and familiar.

One of his most beloved compositions—at least, beloved of choral singers for is simplistic, yet rare beauty and ease of performance—is the anthem “If Ye Love Me.”  The words are text from the Gospel of John (John 14:15-17) and are used on Maundy Thursday to remember the events of the last supper. The polyphonic music (multiple lines of sound) may be considered a motet even though motets are technically defined as having Latin texts.  This particular piece of music was composed during the reign of Kind Edward VI who mandated that services be sung in English and that choral music must be brief and succinct—that each syllable be assigned “a plain and distinct note.”  Tallis considered the music as precedent to text, but used the text to describe the music when possible. In this anthem, the initial phrase “If ye love me, keep my commandments” has the notes rising in a fashion to imply a pleading.  Later, the phrase “he shall give you another comforter” soothes the imploring tone with elongated notes that provide a sense of that comfort. Over all, the piece captures perfectly the resigned and contemplative moment when Jesus lets his disciples know that while he may be gone, he won’t leave them without a presence of God.

Tallis was gifted with the ability to compose expressive, emotive music. He composed a set of nine tunes for Archbishop Parker’s psalter.  One of the tunes was composed in the third mode (and is in fact the third tune of the nine) which is a minor mode fraught with anger and tension.  The psalm set to “The Third Tune” originally was psalm 2.

Why fum'th in fight the Gentiles spite, in fury raging stout?
Why tak'th in hand the people fond, vain things to bring about?
The Kings arise, the Lords devise, in counsels met thereto,
against the Lord with false accord, against His Christ they go.

The words in and of themselves would be worthy of a Good Friday hymn.  Yet in the 1982 Hymnal, Tallis’ setting is used for F. Pratt Green’s very fitting poem “To Mock Your Reign, O Dearest Lord,” which fits the meter of the third tune very well.  Incidentally, it is this tune that Ralph Vaughn Williams composed his famous Fantasia on a Theme by Tallis, which was used as the soundtrack for a powerful storm scene in the film Master and Commander. It is clearly evocative of tribulation and death.

Very little of Tallis’ music specifically for Easter exists outside of masses and service music.  But one anthem that has resurfaced is called, “Christ Rising Again from the Dead.” This, too, was composed under the mandate of Edward VI, and so the text taken from passages in Romans and Corinthians is the required English.  The music demonstrates Tallis’ skill for interweaving multiple parts and strategic use of contrasting rhythms.  As is characteristic of renaissance music composed for hugely spacious cathedrals, the anthem uses long phrasing with whole and half notes bearing the weight of the piece and shorter notes with dotted rhythms to add a percussive element.  The end result is music that soars to the very rafters of a cathedral church space.  This piece in particular, emulating the resurrection of Christ, slowly works a rising pattern so that by the time it draws to its conclusion with the alleluia sequence, there is a clear upward stepping of each repetition of the word.  Not only does the pitch pattern rise, but the volume increases as well implying a universal joy—ALLELUIA! In fact, the story of the anthem itself emulates the music in a way, for it, too seems to have risen again from the dead.

“Christ Arising from the Dead” is a fairly recently rediscovered piece of music from Tallis’ repertoire.  It was one of the pieces found in the Chirk Castle Manuscripts which were rediscovered in the 1960s.  Chirk

Chirk Castle, Wrexham, Wales

Castle, located in Wrexham, Wales, was built in 1295 as one of the line of fortresses built for the defenses of King Edward I.  The castle fell into disrepair and in 1595, the Myddleton family purchased it and began with repairs to the chapel.  As part of the restoration, Thomas Myddleton ordered part-books to be compiled for use by the choir.  Those part-books (manuscripts wherein only one voice part is inscribed rather than a score with all voices; each voice would have its own part in a book) included popular pieces by the period’s most well-known composers, including Thomas Tallis.  They were later stored in the castle library during the Civil War.  As the castle is situated on the Welsh-English border, it sustained some damage during that time and the chapel was all but abandoned.  The part-books were forgotten and it wasn't until the 1960s that four of the remaining part-book manuscripts were found.  It was after they were purchased by the New York Public Library that research began on the music and the Tallis anthem was revealed.  The link above takes you to a site that has

an example of a part book

a recording of the piece performed by the Brabant Ensemble.

Very little is known about Thomas Tallis’ personal background. He was a devout Catholic, yet his music transcended the political and religious squabbles of the monarchs he served.  He served as a composer in the Chapel Royal for more than forty years, through the reigns of four monarchs and come through them all unscathed.  This perhaps is telling of a quiet, unassuming life and a great talent for musicianship.  Maybe it is best to simply let his music speak for him.  It speaks of a divine gift from God!