THE HILLIARD ENSEMBLE
Tallis/Tye/Sheppard 

Cat No. ECM 4766353      Barcode: 028947663539

Release date: 28 April 2008 

David James: countertenor;
Rogers Covey-Crump: tenor;
Steven Harrold: tenor;
Gordon Jones: baritone;
Robert Macdonald: bass

The Hilliards return with an disc of English Renaissance Music, a recital which contrasts
the inspirational work of Thomas Tallis, Christopher Tye and John Sheppard

• All three composers were masters of polyphony 
• Tallis’s Lamentations of Jeremiah was one of the Hilliards’ first ECM successes - in 1986 - and Tallis was included in their Mnemosyne CD with Jan Garbarek
• Recorded in the wonderful acoustic of Sankt Gerold
• Regular quartet of singers augmented by bass Robert Macdonald
• Concerts at two major UK festivals in May – Norfolk & Norwich and Bath

• Music/Artist Background: After the enormous success last year of their recording of Bach Motets (476 5776), the Hilliard Ensemble turn their attention to music of the English Renaissance and specifically, works by three 16th century composers, Tallis, Tye and Sheppard. While Christopher Tye might be branded one of the lesser-known figures of the English Renaissance, and John Sheppard perhaps the more esoteric, Thomas Tallis stands as the most important and accomplished musician of the Tudor period. All three, however, were masters of polyphony, associated with the Chapel Royal.

The music here is not a sampling of the (much-recorded) music for the new Prayer Book but a survey of the earliest examples of the impact of reform on musical composition, namely from the last decades of Henry VIII’s reign. The works of Tallis, Tye and Sheppard are alternated and contrasted throughout this beautifully constructed recital, recorded, like many of the Hilliard Ensemble’s CDs, in the splendid, crystal-clear acoustics of the Sankt Gerold monastery in the Austrian Alps. Tallis has long been an inspirational figure for the Hilliards, who had a huge success with their recording of his Lamentations of Jeremiah (833 3082) in 1986 - one of their first ECM New Series discs - and also brought his music into their collaboration with Jan Garbarek on Mnemosyne (465 1222).

Britain’s pre-eminent vocal group, the Hilliard Ensemble give two UK concerts in the weeks following this release: at the Norfolk & Norwich Festival on 10 May and the Bath International Music Festival on 25 May. 

Tracks:

Thomas Tallis

(1) In ieiunio et fletu 4.25

(2) Te lucis ante terminum 2.19

(3) Audivi vocem 3.59 *

Christopher Tye

(4) Omnes gentes plaudite 5.04 *

(5) Gloria Missa Sine Nomine 7.09

John Sheppard

(6) Gaudete celicole 5.55

(7) Beati omnes 6.39

Christopher Tye

(8) Credo Missa Sine Nomine 6.39

Thomas Tallis

(9) Salvator mundi, Domine 2.30

John Sheppard

(10) Laudate pueri 6.11

Christopher Tye

(11) Sanctus Missa Sine Nomine 5.56

John Sheppard

(12) Eterne rex 4.05 *

Christoperh Tye

(13) Agnus Dei Missa Sine Nomine 5.13

(14) In pace in idipsum 5.02

Total time: 72.08

Recommended listening *