# Im pretty mutch sold to Tallis Scholars i bought 5 cd recently of them exiting titles



## deprofundis (Apr 25, 2014)

I discovered the music of Robert White recntly via Nordic Voice and a cd Called Virgin and the child on signum record if my memory accurated, Robert White is prodigieous, perhaps not in the quantity of his output but in quality, whit the state of the heart sung from the heart skills of Tallis Scholars it show great result and mastery.

Deuxio i purchased Morales from the same ensemble + two cd of Duarte Lobo.So i guess my perticular interrest these days our English andIberic composer sutch as Lobo and Morales. No offence spagniards but im more into Portuguese renaissance polyphony it sound more refined to my ears except homas Louis da Victoria and Cristobal de Morales.

What about Tallis Scholars deprofundis?... hmm well hmm i love them , everything have been said allready on them, they proven great purveror of fine renaissance offerings.

Do you guys love Tallis Scholars and the mighty Gimell record label :tiphat:


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Allegri: Miserere is such a fine CD by them , try it, you will love it.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

The problem with them is that in some recordings, not all, the soprano voices steal the show, the lower voices become a sort of accompaniment to the ladies. It's like the polar opposite of Beauty Farm. 

In fact I've been enjoying Robert White's Lamentations recently, not Philips (I don't think he recorded them) but in a recording called Vigilate! by John Eliot Gardiner. And I've got it in mind to listen to Philips's Sheppard soon. 

If you go to Amazon.com there's a long discussion which I participated in around his Missa Corona Spinea, there's a very negative review and the discussion is about it. It's worth reading, and the performance is worth hearing. 

Oh and I'll just mention that I'm quite interested in David Wulstan and his band called The Clerks of Oxenford, who was a major influence on Peter Philips. I listened just recently to Wulstan's last recording - Sheppard and Tye - the sound is a bit like what Philips does, but more inward and prayerful I think. I prefer Wulstan in English music.

Having said all this negative stuff, I'm greatful for his advocacy of Josquin, there's no better recording of the contrapuntal mass Missa Sine Nomine. Another one I thought was good, better in fact because I prefer Ockeghem to Josquin, was Ockeghem's Missa Au Travail Suis.

I've never enjoyed his Gombert Magnificats, maybe your post will prompt me to give them another try.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

We went to hear them in concert the other week. The tickets were hugely expensive but the concert was a bit of a let down, I'm afraid. Not that it was bad - there was some beautiful singing - just wasn't very enlivening. As if they'd done the same thing for years and they were just going through the motions. Sorry to be negative but we were disappointed.


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## Biffo (Mar 7, 2016)

I have quite a few Tallis Scholars albums and usually enjoy them but there are a couple - settings of The Great Service by Byrd and Tomkins that I find enervating. The very perfection of their singing coupled with the dominance of the soprano voices make them difficult for me to take.


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## JAS (Mar 6, 2013)

I have yet to hear a Tallis Scholars CD that disappointed me. Of course, I have to be in the right mood for that kind of music to fully appreciate it.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I think the Tallis Scholars are to Renaissance music what Karajan and the Berlin Phil are to orchestras: They have a sound which is consistent, not always historically accurate, but it is their unique sound. They tend to smooth over dissonances and, as has been said, emphasize the sopranos. But as with Karajan, they are beautiful to hear.


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## Guest (Dec 28, 2017)

My favorite recordings with the Tallis Scholars : Gesualdo,de Victoria (requiem),Sheppard,Isaac and Tallis Christmas mass to name a few.
When you hear the Palestrina Stabat Mater with the Taverner choir and the Tallis Scholars ,the Scholars seems a bit lifeless,the singing is never bad but it does't touch me in the way it should be.
The Scholars used to be my standard but that is passed.
The way the Clerks group ( Wickham) perform as one instument, is at the moment more to my liking.
At first I disliked it but it grew on me and now I admire their way of singing.
I listened to the Scholars very intensely for many years but that is not the case anymore.
The same goes for the Sixteen choir ,an excellent choir but not my first choice.


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## Guest (Dec 28, 2017)

Manxfeeder said:


> I think the Tallis Scholars are to Renaissance music what Karajan and the Berlin Phil are to orchestras: They have a sound which is consistent, not always historically accurate, but it is their unique sound. *They tend to smooth over dissonances* and, as has been said, emphasize the sopranos. But as with Karajan, they are beautiful to hear.


Indeed,too refined and polished sometimes


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Manxfeeder said:


> I think the Tallis Scholars are to Renaissance music what Karajan and the Berlin Phil are to orchestras: They have a sound which is consistent, not always historically accurate, but it is their unique sound. They tend to smooth over dissonances and, as has been said, emphasize the sopranos. But as with Karajan, they are beautiful to hear.


I actually think they're less consistent than you're suggesting, in particular the balance seems to me to vary quite a lot. For example, I did in fact listen to some of their Gombert today and it certainly isn't dominated by women's voices. Neither is the Josquin Missa Sine Nomine if I remember right.

I do think they're consistent about avoiding dissonance, I have no idea how authentic this sort of practice is, I don't understand musica ficta well enough to comment.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Mandryka said:


> I do think they're consistent about avoiding dissonance, I have no idea how authentic this sort of practice is, I don't understand musica ficta well enough to comment.


I think they smoothed dissonances not so much for authenticity but because they were too shocking/rough for the British audiences back when they started out. But to my understanding, historically, that is the way they did it in the Germanic territories, so it's not too out of line.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Traverso said:


> My favorite recordings with the Tallis Scholars : Gesualdo,de Victoria (requiem),Sheppard,Isaac and Tallis Christmas mass to name a few.


I think their Obrecht recording is well done also.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Manxfeeder said:


> I think they smoothed dissonances . . . because they were too shocking/rough for the British audiences back when they started out.


It's quite a serious accusation! Do you have any evidence for it? Deller doesn't seem to smooth things out for the Brits.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Mandryka said:


> It's quite a serious accusation! Do you have any evidence for it? Deller doesn't seem to smooth things out for the Brits.


I read it in an article from about 15 years ago. You asked me that question before, and I didn't have the cite then, either. If I ever have time, I'll dig through my stack of articles and see if I can find it.


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## RICK RIEKERT (Oct 9, 2017)

In an interview Phillips has taken note of the criticism that has been made of the Tallis Scholars in England, namely that they are narcissistic in the sound they make and just wallow in beautiful noises. For him, that is precisely what the group are aiming at, a beautiful sound, which he rightly adds is extremely difficult to do. Phillips compares the criticism to those that complain that the Berlin Philharmonic sound is too beautiful. He thinks the criticism is dead wrong and that the people who make it are "nuts". Phillips is a great admirer of the Berlin Philharmonic and has a vast collection of their recordings. He thinks the Berlin Philharmonic is the finest orchestra in the world and considers the Tallis Scholars to be something of a vocal analogue. The two groups, he thinks, have exactly the same aim-a blended overall sound, in which every different timbre has its place, but not so that it dominates or distorts. Phillips believes that the job of the Tallis Scholars is to introduce the wider public to as much of the repertoire as they can perform well, knowing that what recommends polyphony to many people is being seduced by the basic sound.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

I wonder if the same accusations could be made against The Clerks of Oxenford in choral music..I mean that they're narcissistic and just wallow in beautiful noises.


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## Emmanuel (9 mo ago)

DavidA said:


> We went to hear them in concert the other week. The tickets were hugely expensive but the concert was a bit of a let down, I'm afraid. Not that it was bad - there was some beautiful singing - just wasn't very enlivening. As if they'd done the same thing for years and they were just going through the motions. Sorry to be negative but we were disappointed.


The singing now sounds kind of hollow, doesn't it? I find that I keep returning to the earlier parts of their catalogue; the early Palestrina recordings, the sublime reading of the Byrd masses.

In contrast, their newer music sounds like a circus show.


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