The Tallis Scholars

The Tallis Scholars
Bernhard Holub · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Name	The Tallis Scholars
Origin	London
Genre	Renaissance music
Years active	1973–present
Label	Gimell Records

The Tallis Scholars are a British vocal ensemble founded in 1973 that specialize in Renaissance polyphony and sacred choral music. Led for many years by conductor Peter Phillips, they established an international reputation through performances, recordings, and scholarly advocacy of composers from the Renaissance and late medieval periods. The ensemble has been associated with major festivals, conservatoires, and broadcasters across Europe and the Americas.

History

The ensemble was founded in London by Peter Phillips in 1973, emerging in the context of the early music revival that included ensembles such as The English Concert, Monteverdi Choir, The Hilliard Ensemble, Kings Singers, and The Academy of Ancient Music. Early performances connected them with venues like St Martin-in-the-Fields, Southwark Cathedral, Wigmore Hall, Royal Festival Hall, and festivals such as the Aldeburgh Festival, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and BBC Proms. They developed relationships with record labels and promoters including Gimell Records, Deutsche Grammophon, Harmonia Mundi, Hyperion Records, and broadcasters such as the BBC, Deutsche Welle, Radio France, and NPR.

Over decades the group toured extensively, appearing at international events like the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Salzburg Festival, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Ravinia Festival, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House, Berlin Philharmonie, and venues in cities such as Paris, Rome, Madrid, Vienna, Amsterdam, Brussels, Prague, Warsaw, Moscow, Istanbul, Seoul, Tokyo, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, and São Paulo. Collaborations and residencies with institutions included King's College, Cambridge, Royal Academy of Music, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Royal College of Music, and universities such as Oxford University, Cambridge University, Harvard University, and Yale University.

Artistic Profile and Repertoire

The ensemble’s repertoire centers on composers of Renaissance polyphony such as Thomas Tallis, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Orlando di Lasso, Josquin des Prez, William Byrd, John Taverner, Heinrich Isaac, Cristóbal de Morales, Tomás Luis de Victoria, Adrian Willaert, Jacob Obrecht, Jean Mouton, Claude Le Jeune, Domenico da Piacenza, Nicolas Gombert, Johannes Ockeghem, Giovanni Gabrieli, Hans Leo Hassler, Giacomo Carissimi, Stefano Landi, Claudio Monteverdi, Martin Luther, Thomas Crecquillon, and Pierre de La Rue. Their programming often juxtaposes motets, masses, antiphons, and Magnificats drawn from source collections like the Frobenius Codex, Medicean Codex, Cancionero de Palacio, Cantus Firmus, and manuscripts from St Mark's Basilica and San Marco, Venice.

Artistic priorities include clarity of polyphonic lines, historically informed pitch and temperament associated with researchers such as David Munrow, Philippe Herreweghe, John Eliot Gardiner, Christopher Hogwood, and Nicholas Harnoncourt, as well as editorial work influenced by scholars like Bent Sørensen, Craig Monson, Peter Phillips’s own editions, Alfred Einstein, Grove Music Online, and repositories including the International Musicological Society and RISM.

Recordings and Broadcasts

Their discography on Gimell Records encompasses complete cycles and landmark albums of composers such as Palestrina, Tallis, Byrd, Josquin, Victoria, Monteverdi, Obrecht, Orlando di Lasso, and thematic programmes including Lamentations, Requiems, and Mass settings. Notable releases received international airplay on BBC Radio 3, Classic FM, WQXR, France Musique, and ABC Classic FM. The ensemble’s recordings have been reviewed in publications like Gramophone (magazine), The New York Times, The Guardian, Le Monde, Die Zeit, El País, La Repubblica, The Times (London), Opera News, and The Boston Globe.

Broadcast collaborators included producers and presenters from BBC Television, Arte (TV network), RAI, NHK, PBS, Medici.tv, and Deutsche Grammophon’s media outlets, and they participated in documentary projects linked to institutions like the Victoria and Albert Museum, British Library, and the Royal Collection Trust.

Collaborations and Commissions

The Tallis Scholars worked with contemporary composers and arrangers such as John Tavener, Arvo Pärt, Olivier Messiaen, James MacMillan, Michael Nyman, John Rutter, Eric Whitacre, Ola Gjeilo, Jonathan Harvey, Tarik O’Regan, Howard Skempton, and Hildegard von Bingen-inspired projects. They collaborated with ensembles and orchestras including The Tallis Scholars Chorus collaborators, The Sixteen, Tenebrae (choir), Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and early-music groups like Fretwork, The English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble, The Consort of Musicke, and The Monteverdi Choir.

Commissioning partners and festivals included Aldeburgh Festival, Cheltenham Music Festival, BBC Proms, Spitalfields Festival, Bath International Music Festival, Wexford Festival Opera, Hampson Foundation, Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Fondazione Pro Musica e Arte Sacra, and foundations such as the Arts Council England and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation.

Tours and Residencies

Regular tours took them across Europe, North America, South America, Asia, and Oceania with residencies at institutions like King's College London, Windsor Castle for royal events, Christ Church, Oxford, St Paul's Cathedral, Canterbury Cathedral, Worcester Cathedral, St David's Cathedral, Notre-Dame de Paris, Basilica di San Marco, and major concert halls including Royal Albert Hall. They returned frequently to venues in Madrid’s Auditorio Nacional de Música, Vienna Musikverein, Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House, Teatro Colón, Kimmel Center, Konzerthaus Berlin, and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw.

Educational residencies and masterclasses were held at Royal Academy of Music, Guildhall School of Music, Juilliard School, Curtis Institute of Music, Royal Conservatory of The Hague, Conservatorio di Musica Santa Cecilia, and universities such as University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Columbia University, and University of California, Berkeley.

Awards and Recognition

The ensemble’s recordings and performances earned prizes and nominations from institutions including the Grammy Awards, Gramophone Awards, Diapason d'Or, MIDEM Classical Award, Royal Philharmonic Society Awards, BBC Music Magazine Awards, and honors from civic bodies in Spain, Italy, France, Germany, United Kingdom, and United States. They received critical acclaim in listings by BBC Music Magazine, Gramophone (magazine), and inclusion in compilations curated by Deutsche Grammophon and Universal Music Group.

Category:Early music choirs Category:British choirs