related works
Cantiones Sacrae : for 5 voices / Thomas Tallis; transcribed and edited by Cees Wagemakers
Genre:
Vocal music
Subgenre:
Mixed choir
Scoring:
GK
Del iubilo del core che esce in voce : 16 voci, 1974 / poesia da Iacopone da Todi, Robert Heppener
Genre:
Vocal music
Subgenre:
Mixed choir
Scoring:
4sopr 4alt 4ten 4bas
Genre:
Vocal music
Subgenre:
Mixed choir
Scoring:
choir
Music for USC : five pieces for a cappella choir, opus 79, 1980 / Marius Flothuis
Genre:
Vocal music
Subgenre:
Mixed choir; Male choir; Female choir
Scoring:
GK4 VK4 MK5
composition
Cantiones Sacrae : for 5 voices / Thomas Tallis; transcribed and edited by Cees Wagemakers
Author(s):
Wagemakers, Cees
(Editor)
Tallis, Thomas
(Composer)
Description:
Queen Elizabeth granted Thomas Tallis and William Byrd a longtime monopoly for polyphonic music and a patent to print and publish music. A very favorable privilege indeed. He and Byrd had the exclusive right to use the paper that was used in music printing. They produced the album Cantiones quæ ab argumento sacræ vocantur in 1575, printed by Thomas Vautor, a composer himself. This collections of their motets did not sell very well and they appealed to Queen Elizabeth for some financial support. Later these motets became very well-loved and many times republished.
It is from this very album that the three underlying motets are taken. These are the only three that are not so well-known, but they deserve to be saved from oblivion. The album contains 34 motets and 3 canons by both composers. Byrd’s compositions are all very wide-spread and therefore not reproduced here, Tallis’ compositions are also widely available, except the three in this small extract.