Customer Reviews

Tallis, Lamentations of Jeremiah / Hilliard Ensemble

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It must have been almost twenty years ago that I heard the Hilliard Ensemble stand up and sing this formidable Renaissance work. It was the most accomplished and flawless a capella performance I had heard in my life, and certainly an astonishing tour de force of tuning from beginning to end. But the Hilliard at their best-- as here-- combine stong character and urgent immediacy with this flawlessness. James's and Potter's singing has an almost rock 'n roll intensity, and that tension with Hillier's and Covey-Crump's warm lyricism, was perfect for the tensions in Tallis's music-- the lush unrolling of polyphonic lines, marked by crunching dissonances (if you're a Hilliard or a Tallis fan, you'll find yourself saying "Oh yes!" at the first false relation in the word "Jeremiae"). It also made the Hilliard much more than smooth perfectionists-- they were the most exciting early music ensemble of their time. This recording captures this moment in all its glory.

Never before have I encountered such glorious mastery, devotion, terror, agony, joy, fulfillment and beauty as I have in Tallis (with the exception of Bach's Mass in B Minor). You will be taken to the depths of woe all the way to the heights of ecstasy all at the same time. Wave after wave of perfection and beauty will pulse into your soul mercilessly as you are ravished by the passion of the text, the tradition, and the sacred worship.

Ierusalem! Ierusalem!
Convertere ad Dominum tuum.

wonderful music from one of the greatest composers of the 16th century brilliantly performed. This thick heavenly music feels so good to listen to. Spiritual, & anyway Mozart doesn't make you smart; Thomas Tallis does.