Palestrina's seven-part Tu Es Petrus dates from after the Council of Trent decided to discourage ornate counterpoint in church music for fear that it alienated congregations. The Tallis Scholars' fine performance neatly brought out the motet's counter-reformation manifesto, with its text reaffirming faith in the Church of Peter. The five-part motet, Tribulationes Civitatum, was perfect: each suspension resolved tastefully, each cadence fell sweetly into place. In contrast, Dum Complerentur and a six-part setting of Tu Es Petrus were examples of richer and more vibrant harmonies. Director Peter Phillips, not a "conductor" in the conventional sense, rarely beat time in the usual manner, and avoided cramming the music into regulated bar lines. Instead, the music flowed like an evolving organism.
Allegri's Miserere is an editorial invention based on a few scraps of historical information - because, for many years, performance outside the Sistine Chapel was strictly forbidden. The Tallis Scholars deftly managed the music's topographical, three-tiered arrangement with two tenors confined to plainsong behind the main group, and a solo quartet up in the organ loft. But the Bridgewater Hall's intimate acoustic lacks the ambience one might desire: they still sounded too close together and the ethereal effect was lacking. Tallis's Gaude Gloriosa was instantly and infinitely more mystical.
Robin Walker's new work, I Have Thee By the Hand, O An, was commissioned as a 40-part companion to Tallis's Spem in Alium. Walker confounded expectation by having God speak in English, while humankind replied with expressions in Latin. God sang twice in simple, uncluttered plainsong, yet in between the Latin response of Man was distant, refracted, swirling, and wilfully presenting obstacles in the way of his communication. Some infectious melodic ideas were underpinned by gorgeous homophonic shifts, but most refreshing was Walker's unashamed bravery in illustrating something tangible about man's spirituality. The Council of Trent would not have approved of Walker's work, but the audience rightly did.
Yet it must be depressing for any composer of a new work to have his premiere followed by Spem in Alium. Both in size and quality, it remains the supreme monolithic achievement of English musical history. It is possible to interpret the work as Tallis's personal testimony of his faith, and this perspective was magnified by Phillips opting for the eloquence of its poetry.
