originally published 11/20/2013

Founder Peter Phillips recounts the history of his choral ensemble The Tallis Scholars. Phillips explains the extent to which 1970s performance practices obscured the natural clarity of this music, and the life’s work he saw in furthering the music’s appeal to audiences. Phillips describes the digital recording innovation of bringing forward the usually unheard inner parts with clarity, and explains his preference for a less reverberate recording space. He also defends this repertoire against the accusation of “boring, white, emotionless” and explains the subtle nature of the music’s emotional element. The interview concludes with a discussion of Thomas Tallis’ hidden depths, and the continuing discovery of works of Flemish Renaissance polyphony.

23 minutes

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