Silver

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Music reviews of Silver

Music Review: A wonderful collection
Rating: 5 Stars

With so much material to their credit, recorded over many years, Peter Phillips must have had quite a few headaches over which tracks to include. He has opted to present two programmes: disc one opens with the award-winning 1980 recording of the Allegri "Miserere" and goes on to explore Palestrina and masters of Franco-Flemish polyphony, including Josquin and Brunel. Disc two features Renaissance music from England, including works by William Cornysh, John Sheppard, and of course Thomas Tallis. It ends with a stunning rendition of William Byrd's "Mass for Five Voices." Needlessly to say, there are many other gems from the choir's discography that do not appear: "Spem in alium," "Nine Tunes for Archbishop Parker's Psalter," the Sarum "Missa in gallicantu," John Tavener's "Ikon of Light" or any of the Russian motet recordings made in collaboration with him. Nonetheless, the collection is still superb, reflecting the choir's diversity and Peter Phillip's inspired direction.

There are just too many items on this disc to review in their entirety, and in a way it is impossible to single out any particular 'highlight,' although I have to say that items I constantly find myself listening to are the twelve-part Brunel "Gloria" and the Palestrina "Sicut lilium" from disc one, and the Tallis "O Nata Lux," and Cornysh "Ah, Robin! Gentle Robin" from disc two.

Here is some two hours' worth of solid singing, with all the hallmarks one could expect from the Tallis Scholars (represented in their entirety owing to the sampling from several recordings, recent and otherwise). As Phillips muses in the notes, it is staggering to think that what started out as a tiny student-run chamber choir at Oxford University has turned into an award-winning, internationally acclaimed ensemble. Yet, the results are undeniable. There are many specialist early music groups in England - The Sixteen, The Cardinall's Musick, The Monteverdi Choir and many others besides. Fundamentally, however, I believe the Tallis Scholars shine brighter than any of them, and those who doubt it even for an instant should try this wonderful collection. This is music making of the highest standard and I cannot recommend it enough.

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