Whatever one’s religious convictions, it is difficult to deny that the sacred church music of 16th and 17th century Italian composers resonates as strongly today as ever before. From the Tallis Scholars, the music resonates on a physical as well as spiritual level. The purity of their intonation allowed the chords to truly ring so that the audience had a three dimensional experience.

One audience member remarked that on the final held chords - which in this music were often resolved after passages of extreme tension - he stopped seeing and hearing singers. Instead the ensemble became an instrument itself, such was the blend and homogeneity of the sound.

Indeed, their trademark is the soundworld they create. It is refreshing to hear this live on stage, not only on the CD after hours of studio fine-tuning. Peter Phillips evidently has a gift for conceiving this soundworld. As director of this British ensemble for the past 30 years, he has been careful to choose voices that work well together.

Conversely, the singers were able to project their individual lines when the music required. The polyphonic writing often weaved various lines of interest in and out of each other and the group’s subtlety was exemplified by the listener’s lack of ability to know where one line ended and the next began.
The centrepiece of the concert was Allegri’s Miserere, performed every year during Holy Week in the Church. There are many myths surrounding this work. A popular one recounts the story of Mozart being so enamoured of the work on a visit to the Vatican that he managed to write it down after only two hearings. The Vatican had allegedly realised its value and had kept it a closely guarded secret, refusing to publish it.

The truth is surprising. In fact, Allegri is not responsible for the Miserere in its current setting. While he created the basic chants that are shared between two choirs and a monotone tenor, the version we here today has been embellished. Most choirs now perform a setting finalised in the 1950s. Peter Phillips, who has devoted his life to the study of Renaissance choral music, edited his own version, which he performed on Tuesday evening. His version adds even more embellishment to the standard setting and the soprano’s cascading decoration down from the high ‘C’ in the last verse was exciting and original. Even so, there could have been even more adventurous decoration in order to make variety between the six repeated statements of the chant.
The group performed the de Monte and Palestrina with a lovely richness of tone. The basses were especially praiseworthy, supporting the rest of the choir with a sonorous bed of sound.
While the works performed displayed the choir’s sensitivity and mastery of nuance, the choice of works was a little too restrained and did not lend itself to more dramatic statements. There is a wide misconception that Rennaisance Choral music is background, easy listening music. Where were the likes of Gesualdo and Byrd to dispel this myth? The programming issue is a point worth making. One of the choir members made this clear in the reception afterwards. The Tallis Scholars must create programmes that their audiences want. The concert promoters requested more conservative renaissance works to be performed for fear of having only a half full house. I hope that next time the Tallis Scholars visit Oberlin, somebody reminds the concert promoter that Oberlin audiences love to take risks!