Thomas Tallis served four English monarchs during his long life. A Catholic, he survived the tumultuous religious and political upheavals and persecutions of Edward VI and Mary I. He adapted to the demands of the new reformed church, the Church of England under Henry VIII, self appointed ‘Defender of the Faith’. Under Elizabeth I a more tolerant approach to religion emerged – even the ever-present threat of invasion by Catholic Spain did not deter the Queen from allowing her subjects freedom of worship and expression. Elizabeth’s tolerance may have been due to the fact that she herself was raised as a Catholic, and it is possible that she missed the pomp and ceremony of the Mass compared to the plain and simple Protestant services of her father’s new Church. Tallis had seen most of the old choirs of the monasteries disbanded, and the music destroyed in the dissolution.
Works:
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Tallis: Absterge Domine
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Tallis: Derelinquat impius
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Tallis: Discomfort them, O Lord
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Tallis: Domine, quis habitabit
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Tallis: In ieiunio et fletu
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Tallis: In manus tuas
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Tallis: Laudate Dominum
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Tallis: Mihi autem nimis
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Tallis: Miserere nostri, motet for 7 voices, P. 207
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Tallis: O nata lux de lumine
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Tallis: O sacrum convivium
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Tallis: O salutaris hostia for five voices
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Tallis: Salvator mundi
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Tallis: Salvator mundi, salva nos 1 - antiphon for five voices
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Tallis: Salvator mundi, salva nos 2 - antiphon for five voices
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Tallis: Spem in alium