Customer Reviews

Taverner: Missa Gloria Tibi Trinitas

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For reasons I'll never understand I have developed a passion for sung Latin masses and have collected a number by Byrd, Tallis, Taverner, Palestrina and others.

But after listening again and again I cannot find any greater expression of the startling nature of these masses than the Tallis Scholar's interpretation of John Taverner's "Missa Gloria Tibi Trinitas". Ethereal it is, but full of astonishing passion as well as mystery - from the tremulous silence of the cathedral setting and the first intake of breath by the choir.

What is it about this church music that speaks even to a modern ear? These are love songs - testaments to the mystery and power in which the people of the time beheld the almighty. Plain and simple, they are love songs to God.

--John Taverner--
Taverner was born about 1490 in Lincolnshire, England, and died not far from his birthplace 55 years later. He studied at Oxford, in the college founded by Wolsey, later re-christened Christ Church by Henry VIII. There is some controversy in the details of Taverner's religious life during the stormy period of Reformation and Counter-Reformation in England. Taverner is reported to have given up composition during this period, but again musicologists are not certain that pieces attributed to earlier years may have in fact come as late as the 1530s. Taverner was a leading musical figure in his time, a time when musical styles were changing rapidly.

--Missa Gloria Tibi Trinitas--
Regardless of Taverner's other composition timings, this mass comes from a relatively early period. The ornate style of the 1510s and 1520s is very evident here. It continues to inspire composers down to this day. The mass is named for chants for Trinity Sunday. It includes treble, mean, countertenors, tenor and bass. The music in the movements is roughly the same length despite varying text amounts.

There are two additional pieces, the 'Leroy' Kyrie and the Dum transisset Sabbatum, more austere and simple in form. This hearkens to the older English tradition of keeping the Kyrie separate from the canon of the mass.

--Liner Notes--
Being internationally acclaimed, the Tallis Scholars' CDs typically present their commentary and texts in English, French, German and Italian (together with any Latin texts); that is true of this disc. The cover art also typically represents visual arts contemporary with the compositions - here it is a piece by from an illuminated initial in 'Les Grandes Heures de Jean duc de Berry', being of essentially the same time period as Taverner.

--The Tallis Scholars--
The Tallis Scholars, a favourite group of mine since the first time I heard them decades ago, are a group dedicated to the performance and preservation of the best of this type of music. A choral group of exceptional ability, I have been privileged to see them many times in public, and at almost every performance, their singing seems almost like a spiritual epiphany for me, one that defies explanation in words. Directed by Peter Phillips, the group consists of a small number of male and female singers who have trained themselves well to their task.

Their recordings are of a consistent quality that deserve more than five stars; this particular disc of pieces by Taverner deserves a place on the shelf of anyone who loves choral music, liturgical music or Gregorian chant, classical music generally, or religious music. It is remarkable!

John Taverner lived in the tumultuous period of Reformation England. Henry VIII had established the Anglican Church, and the feud between his daughters Mary and Elizabeth would set the stage for disputes between Protestants and Catholics. As a Catholic, Taverner managed to keep his faith and his life, unlike his contemporary Thomas More (A Man for All Seasons (Special Edition))

His Mass for Trinity Sunday has the polyphony like Palestrina, his Italian contemporary, but with an English refined sensibility. The singing is celestial. It takes you into another world. It's a musical taste of Heaven. The Tallis Scholars bring this little-known classic to reverent, glorious life.