The Tallis Scholars reach perfection

08 December 2009
Oregon Music News
James Bash

The Tallis Scholars gave a magnificent, jaw-dropping concert of Renaissance music on Monday evening (December 7) at St Mary's Cathedral. Judging from the standing room only crowd at the church, sacred music written a few hundred years ago with Latin text has a firm foothold in secular Portland whenever this world-renowned vocal ensemble is in town. From the opening note of Josquin des Prez's "Missa de Beata Virgine" to the final chord of William Byrd's "Vigilate Kyrie," the Tallis Scholars (seven men and three women directed by Peter Phillips) stunned the audience with immaculate, urgent, and gorgeous singing without any accompaniment whatsoever.

The impressive concert started with a pitch given by Patrick Craig, who sings the alto line with Caroline Trevor. Craig didn't use a pitch pipe or a tuning fork and that means that he has perfect pitch. For the beginning of each piece, Phillips would signal to Craig and he would concentrate and give a straight, pure tone with no vibrato.

Speaking of vibrato, these singers used very little vibrato, even when they were singing quite loudly, yet the sound was always warm and radiant. They also performed the "Missa de Beata Virgine" - almost singing continuously for an hour - without drinking any water. Indeed, they did have bottles of water available at their feet, but never touched them at any point in the concert.

The music on the program is treacherous enough to cause all sorts of harmonic collisions if the tone ever sagged, but the ensemble never suffered a lapse in intonation or do any slight adjustment. In the "Magnificat" by John Nesbett, three of the tenors chanted phrases in complete unison to such a degree that it sounded like one person. Even the pauses to take a breath were completely in unison.

The two sopranos, Janet Coxwell and Amy Haworth, created soaring lines and pure tones that were to die for. The basses, Donald Greig and Robert Macdonald, sang robustly, added plenty of depth whenever needed, but could pull back on the throttle effortlessly as well. The tenors, Christopher Watson, Simon Wall, George Pooley and William Balkwill, were astounding in range, power, and grace. The altos, Patrick Craig and Caroline Trevor, were especially fun to hear as individuals. Craig's voice was always pure and sometimes fluty while Trevor's voice had more color and more depth.

The ensemble's completely unified vowels and perfect diction made each piece stand out, including the "Tunes for Archbishop Parker's Psalter" by Thomas Tallis, and Byrd's "Ye Sacred Muses" and "Tribulationes civitatum." Peter Phillips, who founded the ensemble in 1973, directed the concert with a minimum of gestures, encouraging the singers with a wiggle of his head and slight movement of his hands. The results were absolutely gorgeous. I don't know when the Tallis Scholars will be in town next time but you have to hear them. They are phenomenal.

Read the full review here.