Missa Puer natus est nobis

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Missa Puer natus est nobis
Mass by Thomas Tallis
OccasionIn honour of Mary I of England
Composed1554
ScoringSSAATBB

Missa Puer natus est nobis is a mass setting composed by Thomas Tallis. It is one of three complete masses by Tallis. It was sung by the joint Capilla Flamenca and Chapel Royal choirs in Christmas 1554, during which Philip of Spain was in England.

Contents

History

Background

When Mary ascended to the English throne in 1554, the Use of Sarum was restored and the English votive style was revitalised. [1] Her marriage to Philip allowed for an artistic exchange between England and Spain, as Philip spent nearly two years in total in his wife's kingdom and brought his own singers with him, one famous example being Philippe de Monte. [2] English composers were inspired to compose works in the Flemish style, or they were required to in order to accommodate how the Flemish singers were trained or what appealed the most to Philip aesthetically. Tallis, at the very height of his career as a composer, [3] composed several 7-voiced pieces in the Flemish style for Philip's chapel: [4] [3] Loquebantur variis linguis, a responsory; Suscipe quaeso Domine, a non-liturgical motet celebrating the end of the English schism; and Miserere nostri, a complex "per Arsin et Thesin" augmentative prolation canon [5] that is thought to have once been part of a larger psalm setting before its publication as an individual work some twenty years later. [6] Tallis also composed a Missa pro defunctis , considered a very continental mass to compose before the Council of Trent, for Mary's funeral, although the setting has been lost in its entirety. [7] [8] [9]

Missa Puer natus is also scored for 7 voices, but it is also more Janus-like and syncretic in that it contains characteristics of English and Flemish traditions. [4] Its cantus firmus, Puer natus est nobis , is distinctively festive and allows for scholars to pinpoint its compositional origin to the Christmas of 1554, when Philip was in England [10] and his singers were singing alongside the Chapel Royal for mass. [4] Its cantus firmus, celebrating the birth of Jesus, is thought to allude to the birth of a male heir for England, as Mary believed she was pregnant at the time and was willing to convey it. [3] [11]

The Gloria of Missa Puer natus was arranged by Tangerine Dream for the soundtrack to The Keep (1983). [12] Anachronistically, the Gloria is sung during Anne Boleyn's attempted assassination in The Tudors (2008). [13]

Analysis

Like English mass settings from before the reformation, the mass does not have a Kyrie movement. The Credo is almost lost entirely, save for the "Et expecto". [14] The Sanctus and Agnus Dei also required some alto and bass phrases to be reconstructed by Wulfstan. [15] The mass is in duple metre throughout. [4] The mass contains Flemish characteristics in its homophony, large-scale voicing, and slow harmonies. Yet the mass has English characteristics such as English cadences, a duple metre, and strict adherence to a cantus firmus "ground" of longs in the tenor voice, rather than paraphrasing between the parts like the continental masses of the mid-16th century. [4] The mass also has an invented head-motif. [4]

Cantus firmus

The second tenor carries the cantus firmus "Puer natus est nobis". The note values are large, lasting many "longs" or breves. Harmonic modulations occur throughout the mass, yet the rate of modulation is slow as a result of the lengthy note values. Tallis compensates for moments where a single note in the tenor may last up to 31 bars by writing many imitations throughout the other parts, allowing for rhythmic creativities and passing notes in the melodies (often upwards towards the key note) that create a "shimmer effect" throughout the texture. [4] The end of the Agnus Dei is minimalist in approach, with repeating motifs over static harmony that creates a petering-out effect that word-paints for the phrase "Dona nobis pacem" (Grant us peace). Philips describes the effect as "mantra-like". [16]

Various note values of the cantus firmus have also been arranged by Tallis rhythmically to create a cryptic, puzzle-like pattern throughout. Milsom writes that the patterns are "almost cabbalistic", while Wulfstan suggests that Tallis' use of patterns actually resemble Ockeghem's mathematical "games" with cantus firmi. [17] Kerman and Humphreys have identified that in some movements, the note value corresponds with a certain vowel within the word of the text being sung in the cantus firmus, although the procedure for this changes from movement to movement in an unknown sequence. [15] Philips writes that the overall esoteric significance is "difficult to discern". [16] The cantus firmus in the Sanctus also has a series of diminutions and repeats that randomly switch between prograde to retrograde.

References

  1. ↑ Shrock, Dennis, ed. (2009). Choral repertoire. Oxford New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-971662-3.
  2. ↑ Lindell, Robert; Mann, Brian (2001), "Monte, Philippe de", Oxford Music Online, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.40085, ISBN   978-1-56159-263-0 , retrieved 2025-08-10
  3. 1 2 3 Milsom, John (2008). "Tallis, Thomas (c.1505–1585)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/26954
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Tallis: Missa Puer natus est nobis & other sacred music , retrieved 2025-08-10
  5. ↑ "Miserere nostri (Tallis) - from SIGCD029 - Hyperion Records - MP3 and Lossless downloads". www.hyperion-records.co.uk. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
  6. ↑ Tallis: The Tallis Scholars sing Thomas Tallis , retrieved 2025-08-10
  7. ↑ Sir John Stainer, John Frederick Randall Stainer (1898). Dufay and his contemporaries: fifty compositions (ranging from about A.D ... Harvard University. Novello.
  8. ↑ Fellowes, Edmund H. (1969). English cathedral music. Internet Archive. London : Methuen. ISBN   978-0-416-14850-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  9. ↑ Wulstan, David (1985). Tudor Music. J.M. Dent. ISBN   978-0-460-04412-7.
  10. ↑ Milsom, John (1988). "Tallis's First and Second Thoughts". Journal of the Royal Musical Association. 113 (2): 203–222. ISSN   0269-0403.
  11. ↑ Harley, John (2020). Thomas Tallis (First issued in paperback ed.). London New York: Routledge. ISBN   978-0-367-59755-9.
  12. ↑ interact!multimedia. "The Keep". www.tangerinedreammusic.com. Retrieved 2025-08-04.
  13. ↑ Morris, Trevor "The Tudors: Music from the Showtime Original Series" (2008)
  14. ↑ "Mass Puer natus (Thomas Tallis) - ChoralWiki". www.cpdl.org. Retrieved 2025-08-04.
  15. 1 2 Humphreys, David (2016). "Why did Tallis compose the "Missa Puer nobis natus est"?". The Musical Times. 157 (1935): 9–15. ISSN   0027-4666.
  16. 1 2 Tallis: The Tallis Christmas Mass , retrieved 2025-08-04
  17. ↑ Wulfstan, David (1990). "Liner notes ed. Sally Dunkley." Tallis' Christmas Mass CDGIM034
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