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Picture: Rodrigo Pérez
Tallis Students, Peter Phillips, director
Church of St. Mary the Virgin
December 9, 2023
NEW YORK – It’s the fiftieth anniversary of the renaissance ensemble the Tallis Students, directed throughout that complete time by Peter Phillips. Their annual December go to to St. Mary the Virgin Church in midtown usually consists of a predominantly Marian program, each to go well with that setting and church calendar. This yr, there have been two giant items dedicated to Mary – settings of Salve Regina by Jacob Obrecht (1457-1505) and Peter Philips (1560-1628; the early baroque composer, not the eponymous conductor of the Tallis Students). The majority of the music was as a substitute dedicated to a special theme, “Whereas Shepherds Watched,” with its centerpiece being Missa Pastoris quidnam vidistis by Jacobus Clemens Non Papa (c. 1510-1556; “not the pope” – Pope Clement – was considered an affectionate nickname). This parody mass, primarily based on the motet Pastoris quidnam vidistis by Clemens, was recorded in 1987 by the Tallis Students. Its reappearance on the live performance at St. Mary’s was a welcome return.
The live performance started with Clemens’s motet, a dramatic setting depicting the visitation of angels to a gaggle of shepherds, saying the start of the messiah and urging them to go and discover him. The composer comes from the post-Josquin technology, the mid-period of the renaissance wherein elaborate counterpoint usually took priority over readability of textual content, however with appreciable expressiveness achieved by musical environment.
The mass incorporates various elements of the motet, its opening determine handled in various passages, generally the complete tune, and at others, its rising head motto. The Kyrie bustles with exercise, free counterpoint encircled by imitation. The Gloria has a canon within the decrease voices and an elaborated melody within the excessive soprano. As it’s usually carried out, the ultimate part, “qui tollis,” hurries up. Right here, due to the prevalence of syncopation, the impact was thrilling. The jubilation of the shepherds on the motet’s shut is mirrored within the exuberance of the Sanctus’ “Alleluia.” An additional bass half was added to the Agnus Dei, reinforcing the sonority of the shut of the mass.
Three motets on the “Whereas Shepherds Watched” theme ensued. One of many best Christmas motets from the renaissance in Iberia is the six-voice Quem vidistis, pastores by Tomás de Luis Victoria (1548-1611). The sopranos start in canon, accompanied by a free half within the alto, suggesting, as in contrast with the textual content Clemens set, an early look of the angels. The three decrease elements reply in an identical configuration. The 2 trios then escape of mirrored deployments, rushing up in a nimble part that ends with a significant cadence. The second a part of the motet continues the mirroring impact, with the decrease voices beginning a brand new canon first, adopted by the higher trio. After a spirited Alleluia part, the choir settled right into a ultimate set of phrases taking the textual content, “go and inform them,” lastly arriving at one other main cadence.
Two settings of Quaeramus cum pastoribus adopted. It’s a textual content wherein an angel exhorts the shepherds to seek out the Messiah, adopted by a chorus of Noés (noëls). Portuguese composer Pedro de Cristo (1545-1618) created a four-voice setting consisting of tightly spaced canons with the chorus shifting to a sprightly triple meter. The Tallis Students reveled in its joyousness, however I also can think about this motet being an excellent introduction to Renaissance Christmas music for an formidable American church choir. Italian composer Giovanni de Croce (1557-1609), then again, units the textual content within the Venetian fashion, with two quartets and far antiphony. The contrasting settings of the identical textual content had been a canny programming selection, and the singers thrived on this deployment.
Obrecht’s Salve Regina alternates chant and polyphony. It was carried out with eloquent solemnity, offering a marked shift of demeanor. The Salve Regina by Philips, then again, is a vibrant affair. Composed practically a century after the Obrecht, it focuses on antiphonal polyphony reasonably than chant. Philips was a Catholic exile from England, and his Salve Regina setting has a lot in widespread with the Venetian polychoral fashion.
After sustained applause, the Tallis Students carried out a short however pleasing encore, Salva Nos by French composer Jean Mouton (1459-1522). The piece gave the group’s decrease voices appreciable consideration, its ultimate chord richly sepulchral. Fifty years into their tenure, the Tallis Students and Phillips stay an lively and authoritative presence.
-Christian Carey
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