EXPLORE THE CHORAL REEF

THE Allegri Ensemble’s Mass and Motets concert at St Mary’s Cathedral on Saturday night will feature the music of Thomas Tallis and Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Musical director Andrew Banbridge said the program would feature luminous music from the two shining eras of English choral music.

“Both Tallis and Vaughan Williams were long-lived composers and organists and teachers closely associated with the English church,” he said.

“Vaughan Williams’ Mass in G Minor, composed in1921 for unaccompanied double choir and soloists, exudes his passion for the English countryside.

“His use of modal harmony harks back to the 16th century English liturgical tradition of composers like Tallis, and the ensemble will perform the Mass interspersed with music by Tallis.”

Bainbridge said Tallis served at the Chapel Royal under four successive monarchs and had to adapt his music to meet the demands of the political and religious upheaval of the Reformation.

“Sancte Deus is an early work from Henry VIII’s reign, whereas Verily, Verily I Say Unto You comes from the extreme Protestant period of Edward VI, during which time the Latin Rite was banned in England,” he said.

“Tallis’s Third Mode Melody was one of nine tunes composed for the vernacular psalter of 1567 compiled by the first Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury.

“Vaughan Williams adapted this melody while editing the English hymnal, and later used it as the basis for his popular work for strings Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis.

“The ensemble will also sing five Latin motets by Tallis from the Cantiones Sacrae dedicated to Elizabeth I. They are In Ieiunio et Fletu, Te Lucis Ante Terminum, O Sacrum Convivium, Salvator Mundi, and O Nata Lux de Lumine.”

The Allegri Mass and Motets concert is at St Mary’s Cathedral in Hobart at 8pm on Saturday. Tickets are $35 for adults and $26 concession.