The Tallis Scholars

It is a very rare treat indeed to be able to hear the whole of Fayrfax’s Missa Tecum principium in one sitting. Newly edited for The Tallis Scholars by Tim Symons, this is one of the most substantial and virtuoso mass-settings of the entire period, rivalled only perhaps by Taverner’s Missa Gloria tibi Trinitas, which The Tallis Scholars will be featuring during 2013 – their 40th anniversary year. Written for Christmas, the Missa Tecum principium presents its chant twelve times, each with a different rhythm, culminating in the most perfectly beautiful Agnus Dei in the whole repertoire. In between these colossal movements of Fayrfax they sing something more compact, but just as intense, in the two Lamentations of Tallis.

Part of Cadogan Hall's Choral at Cadogan 2012/13 series.