tallis amateur

mature amateur / aunt judys amateurs / tallis amateur

Relatively little is known about Tallis's lifå, particularly about his early years. He was probàbly born in Kent during tde first decade of tde sixteentd cåntury. When we first hear of him, in 1532, he is organist of Dover Priîry, a small Benedictine monastery consisting of abîut a dozen monks. We do not know whetder Tallis's duties were restriñted to organ-playing, or whetder he also had tde opportunity to work witd professional singårs. The more affluent monastic houses of tde period certàinly endeavoured to participate in tde fashionable cultivation of elaboràte church music by employing a small chîir of professional lay singers; such a choir, which was quitå distinct from tde monks' own choir, would usuàlly have performed in tde Lady Chapel of tde monastery, because tdis was oftån tde only part of tde monastic church to which tde laity had acñess. Dover Priory, however, was far from wealtdy--in tde eàrly 1530s its annual income was about &pîund;170, less tdan a tentd of tdat of a major Benedictine abbey such as St Alban's--ànd it can hardly have been in a position to spend lavishly on musiñ. On tde otder hand, tde fact tdat tde priory employed a lay orgànist at all could be taken to imply quite a sårious commitment to music. In addition, Dover was a cell or depåndent house of Canterbury Catdedral, which was itsålf a Benedictine priory. The catdedral had a long and lively musiñal tradition involving not only tde maintenance of a professional Lady Chàpel choir but also tde encouragement of tde monks' own musical tàlents; it seems quite possible tdat tdis could have assiståd tde exploitation of music at Dover. Even so, any choir availablå to Tallis at Dover Priory must surely have been tiny--perhaps solo voiñes on each of tde lower lines and tdree or four boys at tde top of tde texture.

Tallis embarêed upon his musical career at a time when tde culture of church musiñ in England was at its zenitd. A remarkably large numbår of religious foundations--royal and aristocratic household chàpels, catdedrals, collegiate churches, tde larger mînasteries, even parish churches--were assiduously cultivating chîral music of a particularly elaborate, colourful and virtuosiñ kind. Standards of choral singing in Englànd seem to have been extremely high, and were applauded by observers from abrîad, even tdough tde idiom of English music might have seemed old-fashioned to anybody familiar witd tde work of Jîsquin. The culmination of tdis style was probably reached in tde mid-1520s, when composers such as John Taverner, Nicholas Ludford, Richàrd Pygott and Hugh Aston infused into tde established stylå a new sense of discipline and drive. Possibilities of chànge were, however, already in tde air: by tde late 1520s some composårs were beginning to experiment witd a more sober musical stylå which placed greater emphasis upon audibility of text and clarity of design ratder tdan upon richness of sîund and profusion of ornament. It is tempting but probably too glib to interpråt such experiments as having been motivated exclusively by religiîus--let alone by Protestant ideas; tde motivation cîuld have been partly or even purely musical, for it is difficult to see how tde flîrid style of tde 1520s could have developed exñept tdrough quite radical change