# Variations on a Theme of Thomas Tallis - Recommendations please.



## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

I have only two recordings of this glorious music - Vernon Handley and the Liverpool Philharmonic and Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martins in the Fields. Both very good but a trifle old. Does anyone have a favourite recording that they would recommend? I ask only that it sounds good. I don’t want a recording that requires the ear of faith to discern Vaughan Williams many felicities.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Barbebleu said:


> I have only two recordings of this glorious music - Vernon Handley and the Liverpool Philharmonic and Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martins in the Fields. Both very good but a trifle old. Does anyone have a favourite recording that they would recommend? I ask only that it sounds good. I don’t want a recording that requires the ear of faith to discern Vaughan Williams many felicities.


I guess that they're no point to me recommending my favorite, Karajan's with the Philharmonia....


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Barbirolli / Sinfonia of London is considered a classic for this piece.


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## bagpipers (Jun 29, 2013)

I'm a great love of Thomas Tallis himself ,not worried about variations on his themes


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## Francasacchi (7 mo ago)

Anthony Collins, New Strings Symphony Orchestra. An oldie but goodie. My late father had it on LP and I wore it out playing it so much. Not sure if it ever made it to CD


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Thanks for the recommendations so far. Always happy to hear Sir John and HvK.

Mea culpa, of course I meant Fantasia - not Variations. Must try harder!🤬


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## EvaBaron (Jan 3, 2022)

Easily Ormandy with the Philadelphia orchestra. Those amazing lush strings work wonders in this piece. Hear it once and I assure you it will be your favourite


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## RICK RIEKERT (Oct 9, 2017)

There are plenty of fine recordings of this masterpiece including many of those already mentioned, but a special favorite of mine is Stokowski's final performance of the work. After conducting the Tallis Fantasia countless times over a period of 50 years, Stokowski led a magnificent recorded live performance in London in 1974 with the New Philharmonia Orchestra. He returned to the work in August 1975 when he made his last recording at the age of 93 for the new ‘Desmar’ label, this time with the strings of the Royal Philharmonic.


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## Josquin13 (Nov 7, 2017)

I. Sir Adrian Boult tends to be my 'go-to' conductor for pre-WW2 British composers, & I find him particularly insightful in the music of Vaughan Williams. So, I would consider Boult's EMI recording of the "Fantasia On A Theme By Thomas Tallis" to be essential listening, despite what David Hurwitz has to say about it (that it's "slow", "heavy handed", & lacking in passion and "quite boring". No, I don't think it is, but I suppose it depends on how you view this music, & obviously Boult doesn't think it should sound like Richard Strauss). I also like Sir John Barbirolli's more passionate 1962 account on EMI, too, along with Sir Neville Marriner's old Argo recording (one of two Marriner recordings of this work). Those are my three favorite pre-digital era recordings by English conductors & orchestras.

1. Sir Adrian Boult, London Philharmonic Orchestra, EMI:





1. Sir John Barbirolli, Sinfonia of London & Hallé Orchestra, EMI:





3. Sir Neville Marriner, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Argo:





II. My two favorite recordings by non-English conductors, both of which Hurwitz likes & strongly recommends, are these two,

1. Constantin Silvestri, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra:






2. Eugene Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra--Ormandy isn't normally one of my favorite conductors (except in Rachmaninov) but he had a great orchestra, & the lush strings of the old 'Philly sound' work well in this music. Though the performance does sound very similiar to Ormandy's Strauss:






(Here are Hurwitz's YT picks: Repertoire: The BEST Vaughan-Willliams Tallis Fantasia.)

III. Among digital era recordings that come in better sound, I've most liked the following three versions, which I've placed in order of personal preference,

1. Sir Charles Groves, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Carlton Classics: This is the great recording of the Fantasia that everyone seems to forget about or not know, and it's digitally recorded:

Fantasia On A Theme By Thomas Tallis

2. Bryden Thomson, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Chandos--I'd consider Thomson to be another underrated conductor of the music of RVW, & IMO, this version is preferable to the digital recordings of this work by Previn, Haitink, Slatkin, etc.):

Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis

3. Sir Neville Marriner, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Philips--Even though I don't like the Fantasia performance here quite as much as the one on Marriner's earlier Argo recording, it's still excellent, and comes in better sound. Plus, there's the added bonus of a very good performance of "In the Fen Country": Vaughan Williams: In the Fen Country - Symphonic Impression.

Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis

IV. Most recently (though I don't think that either performance below is in the same league with the ones above),

-- Andrew Manze, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Onyx--I found this to be an unusual interpretation, but ended up liking it: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis

-- Sir Mark Elder, Hallé Orchestra--I don't know Elders' recording well, but his RVW series has received strong reviews from the British classical rags, so it may be worth considering:
Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis

Hope that helps.


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## Kiki (Aug 15, 2018)

Here's an alternative, an "aggressive" Tallis from the *TrondheimSolistene*. It is coupled with the Frank Bridge Variations and Apollon Musagète. The lushness is impressive, not dissimilar to Karajan's Philharmonia strings; and it has more vivid sound (although very aggressively pushed like most 2L recordings) than Karajan's 1953 mono sound. It is also relatively fast at under 15 mins, like the Ormandy, the recent LSO String Ensemble, and the surprisingly fast account from Karajan.


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## maestro267 (Jul 25, 2009)

Fantasia, not variations.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

I believe I addressed that in post#6.


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## Nyama74 (Mar 28, 2018)

While I love the Eugene Ormandy/PO (1963) and Neville Marriner/ASMF (1972) versions, my go-to remains Leonard Bernstein with the NYPO (1976) from the CBS “Great Performances” series. In full disclosure, this was the first version of the piece that I heard/fell in love with and it runs a full two-to-three minutes longer than most other versions. But, to these ears, it’s the one that seems to best capture the “stained-glass windows in sound” effect. If you’re looking for a slower, alternative version, you might give this one a shot.


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## Chilham (Jun 18, 2020)

Josquin13 said:


> ... IV. Most recently (though I don't think that either performance below is in the same league with the ones above),
> 
> -- Andrew Manze, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Onyx--I found this to be an unusual interpretation, but ended up liking it: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
> 
> ...


I enjoyed those and have both lined up for another more detailed listen next week, together with this. It got some 'rave' reviews and was interesting on first hearing.









Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra


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## Nyama74 (Mar 28, 2018)

Francasacchi said:


> Anthony Collins, New Strings Symphony Orchestra. An oldie but goodie. My late father had it on LP and I wore it out playing it so much. Not sure if it ever made it to CD


Possibly this one? Anthony Collins - Anthony Collins Conducts British Music


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