A new piece of old music

Symphony No. 5; Fantasia on a Themeby Thomas Tallis; Serenade To Music; Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Chorus; Robert Spano, conducting

A few years ago, I encountered one of those instances where I heard a piece of absolutely gorgeous music that I’m pretty sure I had never heard before. So I started telling all my friends about it … and received a uniform reply each time: “You’ve never heard that before? Where’ve you been? Didn’t you say you went to college?”

Film director Mel Gibson included “Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis” in his 2004 motion picture “The Passion of the Christ”. I saw the movie, but I don’t remember hearing this heartfelt work.

English Renaissance composer Thomas Tallis contributed nine songs to the Psalter of 1567 for the first Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, Matthew Parker. While editing the English Hymnal of 1906, Ralph VaughanWilliams included the Thomas Tallis melody of Psalm 2. The words go like this:

“Why fum’th in fight the Gentiles spite, in fury raging stout?

Why tak’th in hand the people fond, vain things to bring about?

The Kings arise, the Lords devise, in counsels met thereto,

Against the Lord with false accord, against His Christ they go.”

So taken was Mr. Vaughan Williams with Mr. Tallis’ melody that he wrote this inspired, marvelous work for string orchestra.

As much as it plays the dickens with my pride, I hope that I find scores (!) of other masterpieces that somehow fell by the wayside over the course of my young years.

Credits: To Thomas Tallis, for writing brilliant melodies. And for using the word “fum’th”.

This is the fum'th ... I mean fifth ... of my final forty-five CD's.