Album

To celebrate their 25th anniversary, sacred music specialists the Tallis Scholars re-released on their own Gimell label a disc that has been a cipher in their catalog for a long time, English Madrigals, recorded in 1982 for EMI's Classics for Pleasure imprint and unavailable for so long as to be virtually forgotten. It is heartening to see the list of singers active under Peter Philips' direction in that bygone era—Emily van Evera, Margaret Philpot, Michael Chance, and Andrew King among them—all names unknown in 1982 that have figured very prominently in the early music boom soon to follow. As the original Classics for Pleasure LP, though digitally recorded, ran short by twenty-first century standards, Gimell has expanded it through including the odd pieces used to fill out an early release, Tomkins: The Great Service.

As one comes to expect from the Tallis Scholars in music of a more serious kind, the performances of the English Madrigals are terrific; in the notes, Philips states that their ultimate single-mindedness might have slackened somewhat "if there hadn't been so much first-rate sacred music to explore." And admittedly, sacred literature suits them better; while these acoustically dry, one-to-a-part performances of madrigals by late sixteenth and early seventeenth century English composers are profoundly professional realizations of these pieces. However, one expects to hear the Tallis Scholars out in the cathedral, in a "wet" acoustic and blending as an ensemble—that is their "home." We get some sense of that in the Tomkins pieces appended, though not as much as in their superb Allegri: Miserere disc that has also witnessed reissue as part of the 25th anniversary program from Gimell, not to mention many of the other landmark Tallis Scholars releases that have appeared since 1980.

The Tallis Scholars have been with us so long that it is hard to imagine what the early music scene would be like without them. The re-release of English Madrigals is interesting in that it provides a backward glimpse of a place where the Tallis Scholars have been, a step along the way taken during their very beginnings that they are unlikely to revisit.

© Uncle Dave Lewis, All Music Guide

CD 1
Thomas Weelkes Composer Harke all ye lovely saints above (a5) Work Recorded 1982 The Tallis Scholars Chorus/Choir, Peter Phillips Chorus/Choir Director
1	Harke all ye lovely saints above (a5)	3:46			$0.99
Thomas Morley Composer Harke; Alleluia cheerely (a6) Work Recorded 1982 The Tallis Scholars Chorus/Choir, Peter Phillips Chorus/Choir Director
2	Harke; Alleluia cheerely (a6)	1:52			$0.99
Thomas Morley Composer Phylis, I fain woulde die now (a6) Work Recorded 1982 The Tallis Scholars Chorus/Choir, Peter Phillips Chorus/Choir Director
3	Phylis, I fain woulde die now (a6)	5:31			$0.99
Thomas Vautor Composer Cruel Madame Work Recorded 1982 The Tallis Scholars Chorus/Choir, Peter Phillips Chorus/Choir Director
4	Cruel Madame	4:24			$0.99
Orlando Gibbons Composer Ah, deere heart (madrigal, a5) Work Recorded 1982 The Tallis Scholars Chorus/Choir, Peter Phillips Chorus/Choir Director
5	Ah, deere heart (madrigal, a5)	2:09			$0.99
John Wilbye Composer Draw on sweet night Work Recorded 1982 The Tallis Scholars Chorus/Choir, Peter Phillips Chorus/Choir Director
6	Draw on sweet night	5:49			$0.99
John Bennet Composer All Creatures Now Are Merry Minded Work Recorded 1982 The Tallis Scholars Chorus/Choir, Peter Phillips Chorus/Choir Director
7	All Creatures Now Are Merry Minded	2:25			$0.99
Robert Ramsey Composer Sleep, Fleshly Birth (a6) Work Recorded 1982 The Tallis Scholars Chorus/Choir, Peter Phillips Chorus/Choir Director
8	Sleep, Fleshly Birth (a6)	6:18			$0.99
Giles Farnaby Composer Carters, now cast down, madrigal Work Recorded 1982 The Tallis Scholars Chorus/Choir, Peter Phillips Chorus/Choir Director
9	Carters, now cast down, madrigal	1:54			$0.99
Thomas Tomkins Composer Woe Is Me for 6 voices Work Recorded 1982 The Tallis Scholars Chorus/Choir, Peter Phillips Chorus/Choir Director
10	Woe is me (secular version)	4:07			$0.99
William Byrd Composer Though Amaryllis dance in green (a5) Work Recorded 1982 The Tallis Scholars Chorus/Choir, Peter Phillips Chorus/Choir Director
11	Though Amaryllis dance in green (a5)	4:53			$0.99
Orlando Gibbons Composer The Silver Swanne (madrigal, a5) Work Recorded 1982 The Tallis Scholars Chorus/Choir, Peter Phillips Chorus/Choir Director
12	The Silver Swanne (madrigal, a5)	1:50			$0.99
Thomas Tomkins Composer When David heard that Absalom was slain (a5) Work Recorded 1988 The Tallis Scholars Chorus/Choir, Peter Phillips Chorus/Choir Director
13	When David heard that Absalom was slain (a5)	4:26			$0.99
Thomas Tomkins Composer Then David Mourned, for 5 voices & organ Work Recorded 1988 The Tallis Scholars Chorus/Choir, Peter Phillips Chorus/Choir Director
14	Then David Mourned, for 5 voices & organ	2:59			$0.99
Thomas Tomkins Composer Almighty God, the Fountain of All Wisdom (anthem, a5) Work Recorded 1988 The Tallis Scholars Chorus/Choir, Peter Phillips Chorus/Choir Director
15	Almighty God, the Fountain of All Wisdom (anthem, a5)	5:34			$0.99
Thomas Tomkins Composer Woe Is Me for 6 voices Work Recorded 1988 The Tallis Scholars Chorus/Choir, Peter Phillips Chorus/Choir Director
16	Woe is me (sacred version)	4:13			$0.99
Thomas Tomkins Composer Be Strong and of a Good Courage (anthem, a7) Work Recorded 1988 The Tallis Scholars Chorus/Choir, Peter Phillips Chorus/Choir Director
17	Be Strong and of a Good Courage (anthem, a7)	2:34			$0.99
Thomas Tomkins Composer O Sing Unto the Lord a New Song (anthem, a7) Work Recorded 1988 The Tallis Scholars Chorus/Choir, Peter Phillips Chorus/Choir Director
18	O Sing Unto the Lord a New Song (anthem, a7)	3:43			$0.99
Thomas Tomkins Composer O God, the Proud are Risen Against Me (anthem, a8) Work Recorded 1988 The Tallis Scholars Chorus/Choir, Peter Phillips Chorus/Choir Director
19	O God, the Proud are Risen Against Me (anthem, a8)	4:14			$0.99