The Tallis Festival was an annual music festival based on the work of the composer

Thomas Tallis Thomas Tallis (; also Tallys or Talles; 23 November 1585) was an English composer of High Renaissance music. His compositions are primarily vocal, and he occupies a primary place in anthologies of English choral music. Tallis is considered one ...

. It was hosted by

Exmoor Singers The Exmoor Singers of London Chamber Choir was a choir with a strong focus on music by living composers and in particular British composers. The choir appears to have been inactive since 2017. In 2007, the choir collaborated with rock group Bloc ...

of London from 1990 to 2017. The festival usually included Thomas Tallis's ''

Spem in alium ''Spem in alium'' (Latin for "Hope in any other") is a 40-part Renaissance motet by Thomas Tallis, composed in c. 1570 for eight choirs of five voices each. It is considered by some critics to be the greatest piece of English early music. H. B. ...

'' for 40-part choir, but in addition commissioned new works by modern

composers A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and defi ...

. In 2007 highlights from the Festival were broadcast on

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

New 40-part choral works

In 2006, a new 40-part work was commissioned and given its first performance: ''Tentatio'', from Finnish composer

Jaakko Mäntyjärvi Jaakko Mäntyjärvi is a Finnish composer of classical music, and a professional translator. Early life Mäntyjärvi was born in Turku. He studied musicology, English language and literature and linguistics at the University of Helsinki, gradu ...

. ''Tentatio'', meaning Temptation, is based on a

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

biblical The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...

text about

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

spending 40 days in the wilderness and being tempted by the

Devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...

. Instead of eight 5-part choirs as used by Tallis, Mäntyjärvi wrote the work for five 8-part choirs, with the fifth choir being formed entirely of

basses Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the b ...

and baritones and depicting the devil. In 2007, another new 40-part work was commissioned: ''Love You Big as the Sky'', from Mancunian composer

Peter McGarr Peter McGarr is an English classical composer and teacher, working in the English experimental tradition and inspired by Northern English landscape and culture. Photo of English composer, Peter McGarr, taken in 2022 Biography McGarr was born in ...

, subtitled "a

Lindisfarne Lindisfarne, also known as Holy Island, is a tidal island off the northeast coast of England, which constitutes the civil parishes in England, civil parish of Holy Island in Northumberland. Holy Island has a recorded history from the 6th centu ...

Love Song" and inspired by the island on the Northumbrian coast of England. The text is extensive and covers poems about Lindisfarne, and the detailed geography of the area, including ship wrecks and lighthouses. It is also a love song and includes text taken from a

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring a Christian martyrs, martyr named Saint Valentine, Valentine, and ...

card as part of its inspiration. The first performance of ''Love You Big as the Sky'' was broadcast in full on BBC Radio 3 as part of the Festival coverage.

References

External links

Exmoor Singers website
{{authority control London choirs Music festivals in London