Tribute to Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina for the 500th anniversary of his birth
and to Arvo Pärt for his 90th birthday
Palestrina and Pärt
The Tallis Scholars
Palestrina e Pärt
conductor Peter Phillips
Amy Haworth, Daisy Walford, Sarah Keating, Sumei Bao-Smith sopranos
Caroline Trevor, Luthien Brackett altos
Steven Harrold, Nicholas Todd tenors
Tim Scott Whiteley, Jonathan Pratt basses
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Surge, illuminare Jerusalem
Missa Brevis
Lamentazioni a 6 (Lectio III Sabbato Sancto)
Arvo Pärt
Da Pacem
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Nunc dimittis
Arvo Pärt
Nunc dimittis
Which Was the Son of…
The Tallis Scholars have chosen to honour Palestrina’s anniversary by comparing his work with the mysticism of Arvo Pärt. The ensemble’s legendary interpretative skills are perfectly illustrated by their choice of exemplary works: the Missa brevis, in which a balanced counterpoint alternates with oases of crystal-clear homophony; the moving Lamentations for Holy Saturday; and the motets that were to influence the ‘double choirs’ of later composers. A direct comparison can be made with Nunc dimittis, also presented in Pärt’s unmistakable ‘tintinnabuli’ technique, while the Da pacem returns to the musical style of Renaissance motets. An evocative bridge between past and future, Which Was the Son of…, commissioned by the city of Reykjavík, provides Jesus’ lineage according to the Gospel of Luke in the Icelandic tradition of patronymics.
