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A cappella group Tallis Scholars, the premier interpreters of the polyphonic music of Renaissance Europe, will present newly discovered masterworks and acknowledged vocal treasures 8 p.m. tomorrow at the Williams Center for the Arts.
The concert has been sold out. To inquire about waiting list availability, call the box office at 610-330-5009.
The concert will explore some of the rarer repertoire of the Flemish renaissance school of composers, featuring Thomas Crecquillons and Nicholas Gombert, as well as the better known Orlando Lassus and Josquin des Pres, well traveled international superstars in their day. The program includes Missa Domine Deus omnipotens by Crecquillon, a piece scored for six voices throughout that is having its first United States performances on Tallis Scholars’ current tour. Works by Slovenian composer Jacob Gallus, who served at the Holy Roman Emperor’s court in Prague, and Pierre de Manchicourt, a Flemish composer employed in Madrid, round out the program.
Led by conductor Peter Phillips, the Tallis Scholars are Deborah Roberts, Janet Coxwell, Carys Lane, and Sally Dunkley, soprano; Caroline Trevor and Patrick Craig, alto; Toby Watkin and Chris Watson, tenor; and Donald Greig and Francis Steele, bass.
“The Tallis Scholars have been at the forefront of performances of 16th-century music for [30] years, and from the beginning acquired a reputation for careful scholarship underpinning sensuously beautiful singing in performance,” according to Early Music Quarterly.
“Throughout the concert, a combination of technical refinement, tonal cohesiveness, and remarkable appreciation for the finer points of a phrase affirmed the ensemble’s sterling reputation and opened a door to a musically enriching past,” reported the Baltimore Sun in a concert review.
Founded by Phillips in 1973, Tallis Scholars sing in both sacred and secular venues, giving about 70 concerts each year. In April 1994, the group performed in the Sistine Chapel to mark the final stage of the complete restoration of the Michelangelo frescoes. Four years later, Tallis Scholars sang in Italy and in London for a 25th anniversary concert at National Gallery, premiering a John Tavener work written for the group and narrated by Sting. Another performance was given with Paul McCartney in May 2000.
In 2001-02, Tallis Scholars sang in Germany, Spain, Italy, the Concertgebouw in the Netherlands, La Chaise Dieu in France, the United States, Japan, China, Australia, Singapore, and many British venues, including Symphony Hall, Bridgewater Hall, Wigmore Hall, and London’s South Bank Centre and Royal Albert Hall. This year’s schedule includes a tenth tour of Japan, three tours in the U.S., a concert at the Salzburg Festival, Beethoven Hall at the Bolshoi, Bridgewater Hall (performing Spem in Alium), and a new 40-part commission.
Recordings by Tallis Scholars have attracted many awards throughout the world. In 1987, their recording of Josquin’s Missa La sol fa re mi and Missa Pange lingua received Gramophone magazine’s Record of the Year award, the early music album ever to win this coveted award. In 1989, the French magazine Diapason gave two of its Diapason d’Or de l’Année awards for recordings of a mass and motets by Lassus and of Josquin’s two masses based on the chanson L’Homme armé. Their recording of Palestrina’s Missa Assumpta est Maria and Missa Sicut lilium was awarded Gramophone’s Early Music Award in 1991, and they received the 1994 Early Music Award for their recording of Cipriano de Rore and Josquin des Prés. This recording was also voted by listeners of Classic FM to be the year’s People’s Choice in a joint Classic FM/Gramophone competition.
The nationally recognized Performance Series attracts more than 10,000 people each season. It has been cited for performing excellence by National Endowment for the Arts, National Dance Project, Chamber Music America, Lila Wallace Reader’s Digest Fund, Pennsylvania Arts and Humanities Councils, and Association of Performing Arts Presenters.
The 2002-03 Performance Series at Lafayette is supported in part by gifts from Friends of the Williams Center for the Arts; by the F.M. Kirby Foundation; by provisions of the Alan and Wendy Pesky Artist-in-Residence Program, the James Bradley Fund, and the Ed Brunswick Jazz Fund; and by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour, and New England Foundation for the Arts.