Thomas Tallis is one of the pre-eminent composers of the Edwardian and early Elizabethan period, in the opinion of some experts (such as Peter Phillips, director of the Tallis Scholars) one of the greatest English composers of all time. His work had a lasting influence in the development of music within the Anglican tradition, and so is a staple in our choir’s repertoire. Scholars believe that much of the music he composed has sadly been lost, destroyed during the “cleansing” of all things liturgical during the Puritan regime in the seventeenth century. You can read more about Tallis’s life and work in “Sacred song and the Tudors.” Works by Thomas Tallis…
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Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
In 1995, the BBC presented a 2-hour program commemorating the 300th anniversary of Purcell’s death. The Radio Times described the broadcast as follows: “Live coverage of a concert marking the 300th anniversary of the death of Henry Purcell. The concert comes from Westminster Abbey, where Purcell was organist and where he is buried, and features music spanning five centuries by Byrd, Elgar, Gibbons, Handel, Britten, and Purcell. Martin Neary conducts the New London Consort and the Choir of Westminster Abbey; and Andrew Davis conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, and the Nash Ensemble. The soloists are Emma Kirkby, James Bowman, David Wilson-Johnson and Robin Leggate.” Works by Henry Purcell in…
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Josquin des Prez (1450?-1521)
Works by Josquin des Prez in the All Saints Choir repertoire Ave verum corpus Agnus Dei (from Missa La sol fa re mi)
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Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)
RECOMMENDED READING Monteverdi’s pivotal place in music history is discussed in the article “Passionate Praise” Anthony Pryor’s brief biography of Monteverdi in at the BBC Music Magazine website Works by Claudio Monteverdi in the All Saints Choir repertoire Adoramus te Christe Agnus Dei (from Messa da Capella a quattro voci, 1650) O bone Jesu Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei (from Messa da Capella a quattro voci, 1641)
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Hans Leo Hassler (1564-1612)
Works by Hans Leo Hassler in theAll Saints Choir repertoire Agnus Dei (from Missa super Dixit Maria) Cantate Domino Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott Laudate Dominum Quia vidisti me, Thoma Sanctus & Benedictus (from Missa super Dixit Maria) Vater unser im Himmelreich
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Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924)
Irish-born composer Charles Villiers Stanford wrote seven symphonies and other concert-hall works, but is better know for his choral repertoire for use in the Anglican liturgy. He was a founder (at the age of 29) of the Royal College of Music, where he taught composition until his death. Among his students were the more celebrated composers Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Upon his death, Stanford’s ashes were interred in Westminster Abbey, next to those of the great seventeenth-century English composer Henry Purcell. Stanford’s best-known liturgical works are his settings of the canticles for Morning and Evening Prayer, particularly his Magnificat in G major, sung here by the choir of…
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William Byrd (1543-1623)
In 2008, the Church Music Association of America published A Byrd Celebration, compiling lectures given over the years at the annual William Byrd Celebration in Portland, Oregon. One of the lecturers was Duke University musicologist Kerry McCarthy, author of Liturgy and Contemplation in Byrd’s Gradualia (Routledge, 2007). In a brief biographical sketch in A Byrd Celebration, McCarthy wrote: William Byrd was the most famous and best-loved of early English composers. His entire life was marked by contradictions; as a true Renaissance man, he did not fit easily into other people’s categories. He was renowned for his light-hearted madrigals and dances, but he also published a vast, rather archaic cycle of…
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Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
RECOMMENDED READING Vaughan Williams’s experience editing the 1906 English Hymnal is discussed in the article “Taught by melodious sonnets.” Hymns by Ralph Vaughan Williams in our Hymnal At the name of Jesus Come down O love divine For all the saints Hail thee, festival day Lift up your hearts Master of eager youth O Jesus crowned with all renown O God of earth and altar O little town of Bethlehem (FOREST GREEN) There is a land of pure delight When Jesus left his Father’s throne Works by Ralph Vaughan Williams in the All Saints Choir repertoire The blessed Son of God The great Forerunner of the morn O taste and see
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Charles Hylton Stewart (1884-1932)
Charles Hylton Stewart was an English cathedral organist, who served in Rochester Cathedral and St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. In addition to composing a number of Anglican chants to be used in chanting the Psalms, he wrote several works for organ. His father, Charles Henry Hylton Stewart (1849 – 1922), was a organist who later in life took holy orders and served as an Anglican priest in New Brighton, Bath, and Chester Cathedral. Works by Charles Hylton Stewart in the All Saints Choir repertoire Psalm 23 (Anglican chant) Psalm 142 (Anglican chant)