Two of the Biblical lessons for Maundy Thursday show Tallis at his most creative and imaginative.
'Incipit lamentatio…' the rising fourth, followed by a descending minor scale, imitated in turn by each of the other voices, sets the tone of sorrowful lamenting. Chapelle du Roi capture this mood with calm perfection. The flowing melodies of the introductory Hebrew letters, the clear articulation of the homophonic sections, each element is performed with understanding, due restraint, and never overdone.
The Latin motets that lie behind the English contrafacta have been recorded on Volume 7 of this series. It's remarkable how well the English texts, not necessarily translations or paraphrases, are made to fit the originals. Much interesting research lies behind the notes to Volumes 7 and 8: the identification of the original sources throws additional light on the religious and political struggles of Tallis's working life, and offers glimpses of domesticity. Dixon's choice between two possible groupings of five voices, the lower male-voice group and a higher one to include the ladies of the house, makes perfect sense.
Sing and glorify is a contrafactum of Tallis's monumental Spem in alium, intended for a joyful royal investiture a quarter of a century after his death.
The motet was recast in an entirely different mould: to wish long life to the young Prince of Wales was a far cry from a desperate appeal to God for mercy: even Dixon's faster tempo can't alter that, but what a fine performance his singers give of it.