The Tallis Scholars - Sing William Byrd (2007, Gimmel Records # CDGIM 208)

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The Tallis Scholars - Sing William Byrd (2007, Gimmel Records # CDGIM 208)

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The Tallis Scholars - Sing William Byrd
The Tallis Scholars / Peter Phillips
2xCD | EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 604 MB | Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Gimmel Records # CDGIM 208 | Country/Year: UK 2007
Genre: Classical | Style: Vocal, Renaissance, Sacred

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Review by James Manheim

This disc is a compilation of earlier Byrd recordings by the Tallis Scholars. But don't let that stop you – it is superb. About the only complaint is that the sources of the various recordings used are not clearly identified, and there is also the potential for confusion with the similarly titled DVD Playing Elizabeth's Tune: The Tallis Scholars Sing William Byrd. This two-disc set has nothing to do with that concert film (other than the common ensemble). It offers an overview of Byrd's music, with all three masses (for three, four, and five voices, respectively) on disc one and a selection of Latin motets, English anthems, and the Great Service on the second disc. the Tallis Scholars are a group of about 10 singers (a few pieces require 12), with women on the soprano and alto parts. In most of the music there are two singers per part – the black belt of choral singing. There is not a moment where the relationship between the two singers, and among them and the singers on the other parts, is not in perfect control; the group comes as close as is humanly possible to an a cappella sound that's both transparent and rich. There are purer ways of singing this music, involving boys, and there are versions that more thoroughly reflect its underground nature – Byrd was a Catholic, and the Latin music may reflect some of the difficulties of that situation in Queen Elizabeth's Protestant England. There is no other version, however, that can match this one in terms of sheer beauty. A fine cornerstone for any collection that touches in any way on the glories of the English Renaissance and a welcome anthology of material that the average buyer might have trouble assembling in full. allmusicguide

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The Tallis Scholars - Sing William Byrd (2007, Gimmel Records # CDGIM 208)

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Artistic Quality - 10 / 10
Sound Quality - 10 / 10

Few things are as satisfying to a choral music fan as spending an hour or two listening to the Tallis Scholars sing the music of William Byrd. A speciality of this ensemble for more than two decades, Byrd's masses, motets, and anthems are among the greatest sacred choral works of Elizabethan England–and thus the late Renaissance–and their beauty and complexity always seem to inspire these singers to a level of expressive effect that most other choirs never achieve. This two-CD set offers the opportunity to observe the "fundamental difference in outlook between [Byrd's] Protestant and Catholic writing" (in particular The Great Service and the three Masses) and provides an all-in-one source from which to indulge in his best-known and most revered works.

If you already own the two-disc set issued in the early-'90s to commemorate the 450th anniversary of Byrd's birth (or you own the original 1984 and 1987 recordings from which that compilation was made), you have most of what's offered here–this new release is taken entirely from existing recordings. The newest material–three motets and an Anglican anthem–comes from a BBC production, "Playing Elizabeth's Tune", that aired a few years ago and is also available as a DVD.

Whatever their provenance or recording venue, these performances have stood as reference versions since they were released, combining a rich bass sound with bright, clear treble and carefully balanced interior voices in the very responsive acoustics of places such as Oxford's Merton College Chapel or Tewkesbury Abbey. All that remains to be said is if you love English Renaissance choral music and you don't already have The Tallis Scholars' Byrd in your collection, there's no time like the present to acquire this essential–and now specially priced–set. classicstoday

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The Tallis Scholars - Sing William Byrd (2007, Gimmel Records # CDGIM 208)

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