View source for Thomas Tallis

{{short description|English Renaissance composer (died 1585)}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox classical composer
| name          = Thomas Tallis
| image         = Tallis crop.png
| alt           = Engraving of man with long hair, holding a quill and paper
| caption       = Detail of an 18th-century posthumous [[engraving]] by [[Gerard Vandergucht]], after Niccolò Haym{{sfn|Cole|2008a|pp=212–226}}
| birth_date    = {{circa|1505}}
| birth_place   = Probably [[Kent]], England
| death_date    = 23 November 1585<br/>(aged 79–80)
| death_place   = [[Greenwich]], England
| works         = [[List of compositions by Thomas Tallis|List of compositions]]
| signature     = Tallis signature.png
}}
{{Renaissance music sidebar}}

'''Thomas Tallis''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|t|æ|l|ɪ|s}};<ref>[http://www.dictionary.com/browse/tallis "Tallis"]. ''[[Collins English Dictionary]]''.</ref> also '''Tallys''' or '''Talles'''; {{circa|1505}}{{snd}}23 November 1585{{refn|3 December 1585 by the [[Gregorian calendar]]|group=n}}) was an English composer of High [[Renaissance music]]. His compositions are primarily vocal, and he occupies a primary place in anthologies of English [[Choir|choral music]]. Tallis is considered one of England's greatest composers, and is honoured for his original voice in English musicianship.{{sfn|Farrell|2001|p=125}}

==Life==
===Youth===
As no records about the birth, family or childhood of Thomas Tallis exist, almost nothing is known about his early life or origins. Historians have calculated that he was born in the early part of the 16th century, towards the end of the reign of [[Henry VII of England]], and estimates for the year of his birth range from 1500 to 1520.{{sfn|Harley|2015|p=1}} His only known relative was a cousin called John Sayer. As the [[surnames]]  ''Sayer'' and ''Tallis'' both have strong connections with [[Kent]], Thomas Tallis is usually thought to have been born somewhere in the county.{{sfn|Harley|2015|pp=1{{ndash}}2}}<!-- {{refn|1=The ''Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland'' gives the name as being unexplained.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tallis |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199677764.001.0001/acref-9780199677764-e-40044# |website=The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland |publisher=Oxford Reference<ref>The word ''taillis'' in [[French language|French]] means a '[[Coppicing|copse]]'.{{sfn|Urwin|1988|p=728}}|group=note}} -->

There are some suggestions that Tallis sang as a [[Children of the Chapel|child of the chapel]] in the [[Chapel Royal]], the same singing establishment which he joined as an adult.{{sfn|Walker|1907|p=34}}{{sfn|Lord|2003|p=80}} He was probably a [[Choirboy|chorister]] at the [[Benedictine]] [[Dover Priory|Priory of St. Mary the Virgin and St. Martin of the New Work]], in Dover, where he was later employed, but it is impossible to know whether he was educated there. He may have sung at [[Canterbury Cathedral]].{{sfn|Harley|2015|p=2}}

===Career===
Tallis served at court as a composer, teacher and performer for [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]],{{sfn|Holman|1999|p=201}} [[Edward VI of England|Edward VI]], [[Mary I of England|Mary I]], and [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]].{{sfn|Thomas|1998|p=136}} He was first designated as an organist at the chapel after 1570, although he would have been employed as an organist throughout his career.{{sfn|Doe|Allinson|2009}}

He avoided the religious controversies that raged around him throughout his service to successive monarchs, though he remained, in the words of the historian [[Peter Ackroyd]], an "unreformed Roman Catholic".{{sfn|Ackroyd|2004|p=176}} Tallis was capable of switching the style of his compositions to suit each monarch's different demands.{{sfn|Phillips|2005|p=8}} Tallis taught the composers: [[William Byrd]], as later associated with [[Lincoln Cathedral]]; [[Elway Bevin]], an organist of [[Bristol Cathedral]] and Gentleman of the Chapel Royal;{{sfn|Walker|1907|p=56}} and [[Ferdinando Richardson|Sir Ferdinando Heybourne]] (aka Richardson), a favourite of [[Elizabeth I|Queen Elizabeth]].<ref name=":4" />

====1530s and 1540s====
No record of Tallis related to his career exists before 1531, when he is named in the accounts of the Kent Benedictine house [[Dover Priory]].{{sfn|Harley|2015|p=2}} He was employed there as the [[Organ (music)|organist]],{{sfn|Lord|2003|p=197}} responsible for directing [[chant]]s from the organ.{{sfn|Harley|2015|p=4}} A "Thomas Tales" is named as the "''joculator organorum''" at the priory and received an annual payment of £2.{{sfn|Doe|Allinson|2009}} The account notes that he was also responsible for the direction of six [[Choirboy|singing-boys]].{{sfn|Bowers|2016}} The priory was [[Dissolution of the monasteries|dissolved]] in 1535, but there is no surviving record of Tallis's departure.{{sfn|Harley|2015|p=5}}{{sfn|Doe|Allinson|2009}}

Tallis's whereabouts are not known for the several months after this until mention is made of his being employed at [[St Mary-at-Hill]] in London's [[Billingsgate]] ward.{{sfn|Harley|2015|p=5}} Records show he was paid four half-yearly payments from 1536 to 1538, with the last payment being specified for services—as either a singer or an organist—for the year up to 25 March 1538.{{sfn|Doe|Allinson|2009}}{{sfn|Harley|2015|pp=5{{ndash}}6}}

[[File:Holy Cross nave - geograph.org.uk - 1032795.jpg|thumb|Around 1538, Tallis was appointed to serve at [[Waltham Abbey Church|Waltham Abbey]] in Essex|left|254x254px]]
Towards the end of 1538 Tallis moved to a large [[Augustinians|Augustinian]] monastery, [[Waltham Abbey Church|Waltham Abbey]] in [[Essex]],{{sfn|Harley|2015|p=7}} after he had come into contact with the abbot, whose London home was near to St Mary-at-Hill.{{sfn|Milsom|2008}} At Waltham, Tallis became a senior member.{{sfn|Harley|2015|p=7}} When the abbey, too, was [[Dissolution of the monasteries|dissolved]] in March 1540, Tallis left without receiving a pension (since he had only recently been employed there), and was instead given a one-off payment of 40 [[shillings]]. He took away a volume of musical treatises copied by [[John Wylde (copyist)|John Wylde]], once a [[preceptor]] at Waltham. Among its contents was a [[treatise]] by [[Leonel Power]] that prohibited consecutive [[unison]]s, [[Perfect fifth|fifths]], and [[octave]]s; the last page is inscribed with his name.{{sfn|Doe|Allinson|2009}}{{sfn|Walker|1907|p=34}}

By the summer of 1540 Tallis had moved to the formerly monastic but recently [[Secularisation (church property)|secularised]] [[Canterbury Cathedral]], where his name heads the list of singers in the newly expanded choir of 10 boys and 12 men. Tallis brought with him several manuscripts of his early votive works for frequent [[Use of Sarum|Sarum use]].<ref name="hyperion-records.co.uk">{{Citation |title=Tallis: Missa Salve intemerata & Antiphons |url=https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA67207 |access-date=2025-04-17 |language=en}}</ref> He remained there for two years.{{sfn|Harley|2015|p=7}}{{sfn|Doe|Allinson|2009}}

====Employment at the Chapel Royal====
Tallis's employment in the Chapel Royal probably began in 1543. His name appears on a 1544 [[Subsidy roll|lay subsidy roll]] and is listed in a later document. It is possible that he was connected with the court when at St Mary-at-Hill, since in 1577 Tallis claimed to have "served yo[u]r Ma[jes]tie and yo[u]r Royall ancestors these fortie yeres". He may have been responsible for teaching the boys of the choir keyboard and composition.{{sfn|Doe|Allinson|2009}} Tallis oversaw the will of [[Richard Bower]], who was [[Master of the Children of the Chapel Royal]].{{sfn|Harley|2015}}

Around 1552, Tallis married, probably for the first time, to Joan, the widow of a gentleman of the Chapel Royal. Like many other members of the royal household choir, Tallis and his wife lived in [[Greenwich]],{{sfn|Milsom|2008}} although it is not known if he ever owned his house there. He probably rented a house, by tradition in Stockwell Street.{{sfn|Doe|Allinson|2009}} According to Tallis' epitaph and Joan Tallis' will, there were no children of the marriage.{{sfn|Doe|Allinson|2009}}{{sfn|McCarthy|2019}} In the 1550s, and 1560s, it is likely that [[William Byrd]] was taught the organ and some composition by Tallis ("bred up to Musick under Tho. Tallys").{{sfn|Harley|2010}} Byrd kept a close relationship to Tallis, as Tallis went on to become the godfather of Byrd's second son, Thomas Byrd.{{sfn|McCarthy|2020|}}

Queen Mary I, who commissioned a mass and several settings for [[Liturgy of the Hours|Divine Office]] from Tallis,<ref name=":2" /> granted him a lease on a manor in Kent which provided a comfortable annual income.{{sfn|Cole|2008b|p=93}} He was present at her funeral on 13 December 1558 and at the coronation of Elizabeth I the following month.{{sfn|Milsom|2008}} A setting of the [[Music for the Requiem Mass|Requiem]] composed by Tallis for the funeral of Mary has been lost.{{sfn|Stainer|1898}}{{sfn|Fellowes|1969}}{{sfn|Wulfstan|1985}}[[File:William Byrd (1543-1623).jpg|thumb|Tallis's pupil [[William Byrd]]]]
Tallis was an eminent figure in Elizabeth's household chapel, but as he aged he became gradually less prominent.{{sfn|Milsom|2008}} In 1575, Elizabeth granted Tallis and Byrd a 21-year [[monopoly]] for [[polyphony|polyphonic music]]{{sfn|Holman|1999|p=1}} and a [[patent]] to print and publish "set songe or songes in parts", one of the first arrangements of its kind in England.{{sfn|Lord|2003|p=69}} Tallis and Byrd were given exclusive rights to print any music in any language, including [[English language#Early Modern English|English]], [[Latin]], [[Middle French|French]], and [[Italian language|Italian]],{{sfn|Holman|1999|p=1}} and they had sole use of the paper used in printing music. The only publication made under the monopoly while Tallis was still alive was the 1575 ''[[Cantiones quae ab argumento sacrae vocantur]]'', which was prefaced by Sir Ferdinando Heybourne, who wrote that Tallis and Byrd intended to take their place among the great composers of Europe: "[[Orlando di Lasso|Lassus]], [[Nicolas Gombert|Gombert]], and [[Alfonso Ferrabosco the elder|Ferrabosco]]".<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Thomas Tallis |url=http://www.hoasm.org/IVM/Tallis.html |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=www.hoasm.org}}</ref> It did not sell well, and they were forced to appeal to Elizabeth for support.{{sfn|Holman|1999|p=1}} People were wary of the new publications, the sale of which was not helped by both men being [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholics]].{{sfn|Lord|2003|p=69}} As Catholics, Byrd and Tallis were forbidden to sell imported music, and were refused any rights to music [[font]]s, or printing patents not under their command. They lacked their own printing press.{{sfn|Lord|2003|p=70}} A second petition in 1577 resulted in the grant of a joint lease of [[crown land]]s to the two composers.{{sfn|Doe|Allinson|2009}}

After the 1575 publication, Tallis is thought to have ceased active composition, as no works from these final years survive.{{sfn|Harley|2015|p=1}} The sombre, [[Post-Exilic]] texts for Tallis' final surviving works of 1575, ''In Jejunio'' and ''Derelinquat Impius,'' indicate that Tallis was becoming increasingly involved with the [[Recusancy|recusant]] communities facing persecution,{{sfn|McCarthy|2020|page=126}} as was Byrd; the [[Thomas Paget, 3rd Baron Paget|Paget Household]], known for its devout Catholicism until [[Thomas Paget, 3rd Baron Paget#Attainted|Thomas Paget's attainting in 1587]], was a musical centre where "songes of Mr Byrdes and Mr Tallys’ were sung."{{sfn|McCarthy|2019}} Thomas Tallis was closely associated with the wealthy recusant Anthony Roper,{{sfn|Harley|1996}} who was the grandson of [[Thomas More|Sir Thomas More]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Charity |first=Roper's |title=Roper's Charity |url=https://roperscharity.com/ |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=Roper's Charity |language=en-GB}}</ref> and the owner of the Theewes [[Claviorgan]]um.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Theewes Claviorganum New Copy for Joseph Kung |url=https://www.goetzegwynn.co.uk/organ/copy-theewes-claviorganum-joseph-kung/ |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=Goetze & Gwynn |language=en-GB}}</ref>

===Final years===
Late in his life, Tallis lived in [[Greenwich]], possibly close to the royal [[Palace of Placentia]]; tradition holds that he lived on Stockwell Street.{{sfn|Doe|Allinson|2009}} He was recorded as a member of Elizabeth I's household in June 1585, and wrote his [[Will and testament|will]] in August that year.{{sfn|Harley|2015|pp=211–212}} He died in his house in [[Greenwich]] on 20 or 23 November; the different dates are from a register and the Chapel Royal.{{sfn|Harley|2015|p=212}}{{sfn|Rimbault|1872|p=192}} In his will he left £3.6s.8d. to "my company the gentlemen of Her Majesty's Chapel towards their feast." Thomas Byrd received Tallis' share of the monopoly<ref name=":4" /> although it was his father, William Byrd, who would utilise it.

He was buried in the chancel of [[St Alfege Church, Greenwich]].{{sfn|Harley|2015|p=212}} A brass memorial plate placed there after the death of his wife (but before the death of Elizabeth ([[ONDB]])) is now lost.{{sfn|Harley|2015|p=212}} His remains may have been discarded by labourers during the 1710s, when the church was rebuilt.{{sfn|Downes|1987|pp=110–111}}

Tallis' epitaph on a brass [[Commemorative plaque|plaque]], lost in the subsequent rebuilding of the church, was recorded by the English clergyman [[John Strype]] in his 1720 edition of [[John Stow]]'s ''Survey of London''{{sfn|Doe|Allinson|2009}}{{sfn|Rimbault|1872|pp=192–193}} It was most likely written by Henry Stanford: a recusant tutor to the Paget Household.<ref name=":4" />

<blockquote lang="enm"><poem>Entered here doth ly a worthy wyght,
Who for long tyme in musick bore the bell:
His name to shew, was THOMAS TALLYS hyght,
In honest virtuous lyff he dyd excell.

He serv'd long tyme in chappel with grete prayse
Fower sovereygnes reygnes (a thing not often seen);
I meane Kyng Henry and Prynce Edward's dayes,
Quene Mary, and Elizabeth oure Quene.

He mary'd was, though children he had none,
And lyv'd in love full thre and thirty yeres
Wyth loyal spowse, whose name yclypt was JONE,
Who here entomb'd him company now beares.

As he dyd lyve, so also did he dy,
In myld and quyet sort (O happy man!)
To God ful oft for mercy did he cry,
Wherefore he lyves, let deth do what he can.</poem></blockquote>

On learning of Tallis' death, William Byrd wrote ''[[Ye Sacred Muses]]'', his musical elegy to his colleague and mentor. Tallis' widow Joan, whose will is dated 12 June 1587, survived him by nearly four years{{sfn|Doe|Allinson|2009}}{{sfn|Milsom|2008}} and spent the rest of her life in the care of Richard Cranwell, a gentleman of the Chapel Royal.{{sfn|McCarthy|2019}} Anthony Roper received Tallis' gilt cup in Joan's will for the "good favours showed to [her] late husband"{{sfn|Harley|1996}}{{sfn|McCarthy|2019}} and William Byrd received Tallis' gilt bowl.

==Works==
{{Further|List of compositions by Thomas Tallis}}

===Early works and Gaude Gloriosa===
The earliest surviving works by Tallis are ''Alleluia: Ora pro nobis'', ''Euge Caeli Porta'', ''Magnificat for four voices'',{{sfn|Harley|2015|p=224}} and three devotional [[antiphons]] to the [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Virgin Mary]]: ''Salve intemerata'', a precocious work of Tallis, with the oldest manuscript dating to the 1520s (London, British Library, Ms. Harley 1709);<ref>{{Cite web |title=Salve intemerata virgo (Tallis) - from CDA67207 - Hyperion Records - MP3 and Lossless downloads |url=https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dw.asp?dc=W4669_GBAJY0120710 |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=www.hyperion-records.co.uk}}</ref>{{sfn|Rogers|2016}} ''Ave Dei Patris filia''; and ''Ave rosa sine spinis''. Votive antiphons were sung in the evening after the [[Compline|last service of the day]]. Tallis' early output is composed entirely in the [[English Votive Style]] that was cultivated in England from the 1470s to the 1540s. Tallis used antiphons composed by [[John Taverner]] and [[Robert Fayrfax]]{{sfn|Harley|2015|p=222}} as models for composing his own antiphons. Taverner in particular is [[Musical quotation|quoted]] in ''Salve intemerata'', and ''Dum transisset sabbatum.''{{sfn|Harley|2015|p=222}} Characteristics of the votive style, such as high, sustained treble lines and lengthy solo verses, were just beginning to be supplanted by the more succinct phrasing of continental traditions by the 1530s, making ''Missa Salve Intemerata'' (Tallis' first of three complete masses, and his only [[parody mass]] to be completed)<ref>{{Citation |title=Tallis: The Complete Works, Vol. 1 |url=https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_SIGCD001 |access-date=2025-04-17 |language=en}}</ref> more modern in technique than the antiphon from which it is derived.<ref name=":6">{{Citation |title=Tallis: Salve intemerata & other sacred music |url=https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA67994 |access-date=2025-04-17 |language=en}}</ref>

''Gaude gloriosa Dei mater'' was previously thought to have been one of many revivalist votive antiphons composed in honour of [[Mary I of England|Queen Mary I]], in a similar vein to William Mundy's ''[[William Mundy (composer)#Vox patris caelestis|Vox Patris caelestis]]''. This is due to ''Gaude gloriosa'' being more advanced than the rest of Tallis' early output, indicating the work of an older, more mature composer.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gaude gloriosa (Tallis) - from CDA67548 - Hyperion Records - MP3 and Lossless downloads |url=https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dw.asp?dc=W1838_GBAJY0554802 |access-date=2025-04-09 |website=www.hyperion-records.co.uk}}</ref> However, ''Gaude gloriosa''<nowiki/>'s dating was revised after renovations at [[Corpus Christi College, Oxford]] in 1978 revealed earlier fragments of ''Gaude gloriosa'' that use an English text translated by [[Catherine Parr|Queen Katherine Parr]].{{sfn|Skinner|2016}} This means the antiphon was likely composed in the 1540s, or even earlier, with its original Latin text referencing the "Gaude" Window in the west transept of Canterbury Cathedral.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tallis, Thomas: Latin Church Music I |url=https://stainer.co.uk/shop/ec64/ |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=Stainer & Bell |language=en-GB}}</ref> The cathedral was Tallis' previous workplace before his appointment to the Chapel Royal. It was only after becoming a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal that Tallis received his commission for ''Gaude gloriosa''<nowiki/>'s English [[contrafactum]], ''Se Lord and behold'', which was intended for use in [[Henry VIII#Second invasion of France and the "Rough Wooing" of Scotland|Henry VIII's French campaign]] and the capture of [[Boulogne-sur-Mer|Boulogne]] in 1544.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Thomas Tallis - Queen Katherine Parr & Songs of Reformation |url=https://www.alamire.co.uk/discography/thomas-tallis-queen-katherine-parr-songs-of-reformation/ |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=Alamire |language=en-GB}}</ref>

At Canterbury Cathedral, Thomas Tallis was caught between [[Thomas Cranmer|Archbishop Thomas Cranmer]]'s push for reform, and resistance from the more conservative members of the cathedral's chapter.<ref name=":4" /> Cranmer recommended a syllabic style of music where each syllable is sung to one pitch, as his instructions make clear for the setting of the 1544 ''[[Exhortation and Litany (1544)|English Litany]]''.{{sfn|Willis|2016|p=52}} As a result, the writing of Tallis became more simple. Tallis' ''Mass for Four Voices'', while in Latin, is written in syllabic [[homophony]], with a diminished use of [[melisma]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mass for four voices (Tallis) - from CDA68076 - Hyperion Records - MP3 and Lossless downloads |url=https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dw.asp?dc=W15385_68076 |access-date=2025-04-21 |website=www.hyperion-records.co.uk}}</ref>

=== Music under Edward VI and Mary I ===
{{listen|type=music
| filename     =The Tudor Consort - Thomas Tallis - Loquebantur variis linguis.ogg
| title        = "Loquebantur variis linguis"
| alt          =
| description  =Loquebantur variis linguis, a 7 voice responsory. Performed here by the Tudor Consort.
}}
The reformed Anglican liturgy was inaugurated during the short reign of [[Edward VI]] (1547–53),{{sfn|Lord|2003|p=75}} and Tallis began to write anthems set to English words, as well as [[Dorian Service|services]] for the [[Book of Common Prayer (1549)|Book of Common Prayer]]. Tallis' English setting for the ''[[Benedictus (canticle)|Benedictus]]'' stylistically dates from this period, although it remained in use as Byrd quoted Tallis' "which hath bene since the world began" melody in his own ''[[Great Service (Byrd)|Great Service.]]''<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Benedictus (Tallis) - from CDA68026 - Hyperion Records - MP3 and Lossless downloads |url=https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dw.asp?dc=W15096_GBAJY1402607 |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=www.hyperion-records.co.uk}}</ref> Tallis' famous ''[[If ye love me]]'' certainly dates from the reign of Edward VI, as the [[Wanley Partbooks|Wanley Partbook]] of 1549-1552 is the earliest source for the anthem.<ref>{{Cite web |title=GB-Ob MS. Mus. Sch. e. 420 (Wanley Partbooks) - DIAMM |url=https://www.diamm.ac.uk/sources/2291/ |access-date=2025-04-20 |website=www.diamm.ac.uk}}</ref>

[[Mary I of England|Queen Mary]] set about undoing some of the religious reforms of the preceding decades, following her accession in 1553. Mary restored the [[Use of Sarum|Sarum Rite]], and the compositional style of the Chapel Royal reverted to the votive style prevalent early in the century,{{sfn|Shrock|2009|p=148}} albeit in a form even more steeped in continental practices than that emerging in the 1530s. The marriage between Mary and [[Philip II of Spain|Prince Philip of Spain]] allowed for a new artistic exchange between England and Spain. [[Capilla flamenca (Spain)|Philip's chapel choir]] accompanied him to England in 1554.<ref name=":8">{{Citation |title=Tallis: The Tallis Christmas Mass |url=https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDGIM034&utm_board=gimell&utm_linkurl=tallisscholars.lnk.to/thomas-tallis-missa-puer-natus-est-nobis |access-date=2025-04-16 |language=en}}</ref> Therefore, Tallis was exposed to visiting continental composers, as evident in ''Suscipe quaeso Domine'', which i''s'' a non-liturgical 7-voice motet composed to celebrate the end of the [[English Reformation#Marian Restoration|English schism]]. ''Suscipe quaeso'' is written in a low-pitched Flemish style to suit the singing tradition of Philip's choir.<ref name=":2">{{Citation |title=Tallis: Missa Puer natus est nobis & other sacred music |url=https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA68026 |access-date=2025-04-07 |language=en}}</ref> ''Loquebantur variis linguis'' and ''Miserere nostri'' have the same 7-voice-scoring, meaning that they were also composed with Philip's singers in mind.<ref name=":2" /> ''Miserere nostri'' is notably written in the complex canonical technique of the continent<ref>{{Cite web |title=Miserere nostri (Tallis) - from SIGCD029 - Hyperion Records - MP3 and Lossless downloads |url=https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dw.asp?dc=W14992_GBLLH0402909 |access-date=2025-04-09 |website=www.hyperion-records.co.uk}}</ref> with its use of multiple [[Prolation canon|augmentative prolations.]]<ref>{{Citation |title=Tallis: The Tallis Scholars sing Thomas Tallis |url=https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDGIM203 |access-date=2025-04-09 |language=en}}</ref>

''[[Missa Puer natus est nobis]]'', likely composed in December 1554 for the both chapel choirs, is more conservative in that it is composed around a festive [[cantus firmus]] "[[Puer natus est nobis]]" that alludes to the birth of a boy for England. Queen Mary believed she was pregnant from 1554-1555, and that the Catholic succession was to be secured,<ref name=Whoswho>{{Who's Who | title = Porter, Dame Shirley, (Lady Porter)  | id = U31197 | doi = }}</ref> hence the large, celebratory scale of ''Missa Puer natus''. The mass has characteristics of the English votive style, such as [[False relation|cross-relations]], yet the mass also has characteristics of the [[Franco-Flemish School|Flemish tradition]].<ref name=":2" /> In the tenor part, there are cryptic, puzzle-like patterns made from the varying note lengths with which Tallis modified the cantus firmus. Milsom writes that the patterns are "almost cabbalistic", while Wulfstan suggests that Tallis' use of patterns actually resemble [[Johannes Ockeghem|Ockeghem]]'s mathematical "games" with cantus firmi.{{sfn|Wulfstan|1990}} Philips writes that the overall [[Western esotericism|esoteric]] significance is "difficult to discern".<ref name=":8" />

Some of Tallis' keyboard works were compiled by Thomas Mulliner in a manuscript copybook called ''[[The Mulliner Book]]'' before Queen Elizabeth's reign, and may have been used by the queen herself when she was younger.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Harley |first=John |title=Thomas Tallis |publisher=Routledge |year=2016 |isbn=9780367597559 |pages=62}}</ref> Following Elizabeth's accession, the [[Act of Uniformity 1558|Act of Uniformity]] abolished the Roman Liturgy{{sfn|Farrell|2001|p=125}} and firmly established the [[Book of Common Prayer]].{{sfn|Thomas|1998|p=89}} Composers resumed writing English anthems, although the practice continued of setting Latin texts among composers employed by Elizabeth's Chapel Royal.<ref name=":6" /> 
{{listen|type=music
 | filename     = Thomas Tallis (ca.1505-1585) - Why fum'th in sight a4, the Third Tune from Archbishop Parker's Psalter (1567).ogg
 | title        = "Why fum'th in sight", the Third Tune from Archbishop Parker's Psalter (1567)
 | description = Inspiration for ''[[Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis]]'' by [[Ralph Vaughan Williams]]. Performed by Phillip W. Serna, Treble, Tenor & Bass [[Viol]]s 
}}

=== Matthew Parker's Psalter and Early Elizabethan Works ===
{{listen|type=music
| filename     =Thomas Tallis -- All praise to you (Tallis's canon).opus
| title        = "Tallis's Canon"
| alt          =
| description  =A version of "Tallis's Canon" as modified by [[Thomas Ravenscroft]], here used for [[Thomas Ken]]'s hymn "[[Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow|All praise to You, my God, this night]]" (which ends with a [[doxology]]).
| filename2    =Tallis - If ye love me.ogg
| title2       ="If Ye Love Me"
| alt2         =
| description2 =A setting of {{Bibleverse|John|14:15–17|KJV}}
| filename3    =Thomas Tallis Lamentations I (The Tudor Consort).ogg
| title3       = ''Lamentations of Jeremiah the Prophet I''
| alt3         =
| description3 =A setting of {{Bibleverse|Lamentations|1|KJV}}
}}
The religious authorities at the beginning of Elizabeth's reign, being Protestant, tended to discourage polyphony in church unless the words were clearly audible or, as the [[Elizabethan Religious Settlement|1559 Injunctions]] stated, "playnelye understanded, as if it were read without singing".{{sfn|Willis|2016|p=57}} Tallis wrote [[Tunes for Archbishop Parker's Psalter|nine psalm chant tunes]] for four voices for Archbishop [[Matthew Parker]]'s Psalter published in 1567.{{sfn|Lord|2003|p=86}} One of the nine tunes was the "Third Mode Melody" which inspired the composition of ''[[Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis]]'' by [[Ralph Vaughan Williams]] in 1910.{{sfn|Steinberg|2008|p=291}} Another of the tunes, a setting of [[Psalm 67]], became known as "Tallis's Canon". A version of it published by [[Thomas Ravenscroft]] was used as the tune for [[Thomas Ken]]'s "All praise to thee, my God, this night".<ref name=hymnary />

The Injunctions, however, also allowed a more elaborate piece of music to be sung in church at certain times of the day.{{sfn|Willis|2016|p=57}} Tallis' more complex Elizabethan [[anthem]]s and [[motet]]s may have been sung in this context, or alternatively by the many families who sang sacred polyphony at home.{{sfn|Milsom|2003|p=163}} Although older works from the reigns of Henry and Queen Mary continued to be copied and distributed, the votive style was superseded by a modern, highly-[[Imitative counterpoint|imitative]] method of counterpoint,{{sfn|Milsom|1998}} typical of late sixteenth-century choral traditions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Counterpoint - Renaissance, Polyphony, Imitation {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/art/counterpoint-music/The-Renaissance |access-date=2025-04-19 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Tallis: Lamentations of Jeremiah |url=https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDGIM025 |access-date=2025-07-28 |language=en}}</ref> Tallis' better-known works from the Elizabethan years that employ this method include his settings of the ''[[Lamentations of Jeremiah the Prophet (Tallis)|Lamentations of Jeremiah the Prophet]]''{{sfn|Cole|2008b|p=93}} for the [[Holy Week]], the motet ''[[O nata lux]]'', and ''[[Spem in alium]].''

''Spem in alium'' is written for eight five-voice choirs, and is thought to have been commissioned by the Earl of Arundel upon hearing a secret performance of [[Alessandro Striggio]]'s ''[[Missa sopra Ecco sì beato giorno]]'' or  his 40-part motet, ''Ecce beatam lucem''. ''Spem in alium'' takes its text from the apocryphal [[Book of Judith]] that concerns the slaying of [[Holofernes]] in order to save [[People of Israel|Israel]]. Milsom proposes the notion that the Arundel or the Duke of Norfolk, both of whom had Catholic leanings, with the latter implicated in the [[Ridolfi plot]], might have commissioned the motet for a text that has covert political meaning, as an allegory for an eventual [[assassination]] of Elizabeth.{{sfn|Milsom|2012}} Despite the allegorical association, and ''Spem in alium'' appearing in the [[Nonsuch Palace|Nonsuch palace]] catalogue for its presumed performance with Arundel and Norfolk in attendance, there is no evidence that Tallis was involved in the plot himself.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Smith |first=Jeremy L. |date=2003 |title=Music and Late Elizabethan Politics: The Identities of Oriana and Diana |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/jams.2005.58.3.507 |journal=  Journal of the American Musicological Society|volume=58 |issue=3 |pages=507–558 |doi=10.1525/jams.2005.58.3.507 |jstor=10.1525/jams.2005.58.3.507 |via=JSTOR}}</ref> ''Spem in alium'' has unique numerology: there are 40 voices for [[Temptation of Christ|40 days]] of Christ in the Desert, and the motet's length of 69 [[Longa (music)|'longs']] adds up to T-A-L-L-I-S in Latin letters.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Spem in alium (Tallis) - from CDA66400 - Hyperion Records - MP3 and Lossless downloads |url=https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dw.asp?dc=W2982_GBAJY9040011 |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=www.hyperion-records.co.uk}}</ref> 

===Late Elizabethan Works===
Toward the end of his life, Tallis continued to innovate. Two large-scale keyboard works, ''Felix namque I'' and ''Felix namque II'', can be found in the [[Fitzwilliam Virginal Book|Fitzwilliam Virginal Book (FVB 109 & FVB 110)]] and are composed in a virtuosic manner unparalleled by any other European keyboard tradition of the period.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tallis: Complete Keyboard Works |url=https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7951127--tallis-complete-keyboard-works |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=Presto Music |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Works |first=Organ |title=Concert Hall Piece: Felix Namque I (1562) |url=https://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/28006 |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=Contrebombarde.com}}</ref> Tallis' secular output increased towards the end of his compositional career, as he produced two ''[[In Nomine]]s,'' a [[Fantasia (musical form)|''Fantasy'']], a ''Solfing Song'' ([[Solfège|Ut-Re-Mi-Fa-Sol]]), one keyboard ''Lesson in Two Parts'' (also attrib. [[John Bull (composer)|John Bull]]) and English songs such as ''When shall my sorrowful sighing slack?'' The latter was popular enough to appear in English and Scottish sources.{{sfn|Milsom|1998}} ''[[O sacrum convivium]]'' and ''Salvator mundi'' may also have been written as secular fantasias for [[viol]]s before being given liturgical texts for the [[William Byrd#Cantiones sacrae (1575)|1575 Cantiones sacrae]].{{sfn|Milsom|1998}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=O sacrum convivium (Tallis) - from CDGIM025 - Hyperion Records - MP3 and Lossless downloads |url=https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dw.asp?dc=W2979_GBADM9200006 |access-date=2025-04-09 |website=www.hyperion-records.co.uk}}</ref>

In the Baldwin Partbooks, two psalm settings survive from Tallis:<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Baldwin Partbooks - ChoralWiki |url=https://www.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/The_Baldwin_Partbooks |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=www.cpdl.org |language=en}}</ref> ''Domine'' ''quis habitabit'' and ''[[Laudate Dominum|Laudate Dominum omnes gentes]]''. ''Domine quis habitabit'' is the longer of the two, and is written in the Flemish style.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Domine, quis habitabit? (Tallis) - from SIGCD029 - Hyperion Records - MP3 and Lossless downloads |url=https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dw.asp?dc=W14740_GBLLH0402907 |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=www.hyperion-records.co.uk}}</ref> ''Laudate Dominum'', while shorter, is written in a more sprung, lively Elizabethan style. ''Laudate Dominum'' made an impression on the young William Byrd, who used the motet as a model for his own ''Laudate pueri.''<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |title=Laudate Dominum (Tallis) - from SIGCD029 - Hyperion Records - MP3 and Lossless downloads |url=https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dw.asp?dc=W15386_GBLLH0402908 |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=www.hyperion-records.co.uk}}</ref> Tallis was willing to draw upon his experience in adopting Flemish influences, while also retaining English character in his music through the use of [[English cadence|English cadences.]]<ref name=":2" />

Tallis was experimental in his final known compositions in the [[Cantiones quae ab argumento sacrae vocantur|1575 Cantiones sacrae]]: ''In jejunio'' has a high amount of [[word-painting]], with the motet being purposely and unusually printed at a low pitch<ref>{{Cite web |title=In ieiunio et fletu (Tallis) - from SIGCD338 - Hyperion Records - MP3 and Lossless downloads |url=https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dw.asp?dc=W2976_GBLLH1333810 |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=www.hyperion-records.co.uk}}</ref> to reflect the sorrowful nature of the Lenten text.{{sfn|Milsom|1984}} ''Derelinquat impius'' is simply bizarre in that it defies any initial tonal centre. Continuous peregrinations and eccentric seventh intervals at every "misericors est"<ref>{{Cite web |title=Derelinquat impius (Tallis) - from SIGCD029 - Hyperion Records - MP3 and Lossless downloads |url=https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dw.asp?dc=W1844_GBLLH0402915 |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=www.hyperion-records.co.uk}}</ref> convey the waywardness of the wicked in the text.<ref>{{Citation |title=Tallis: Lamentations of Jeremiah |url=https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDGIM025 |access-date=2025-04-10 |language=en}}</ref>

==Legacy==

=== Influence and Reputation ===
Tallis is remembered as primarily a composer of [[sacred music|sacred]] vocal music, in part because of the small output of instrumental and secular music that can be successfully attributed to him.{{sfn|Harley|2015|p=227}} Records are incomplete on his works from previous periods; 11 of his 18 Latin-texted pieces from Elizabeth's reign were published, "which ensured their survival in a way not available to the earlier material".{{sfn|Phillips|2005|p=13}} Tallis was never referred to as a "father of [[Anglican church music|English Church music]]" in his lifetime (unlike Byrd, who was called a "Father of Musicke" in 17th-century chapel rolls); the epithet for Tallis was a product of the Victorian revival.{{sfn|Cole|2008a}} Tallis, nevertheless, was highly revered, with [[John Baldwin (composer)|John Baldwin]], compiler of the Baldwin Partbooks, naming him as one of the greatest composers of the period, although giving much more deference to [[William Mundy (composer)|Mundy]] as one of the "Queen's Pallis".{{sfn|Flood|1924}} Some of Tallis' works were copied by a scribe of [[Edward Paston]], who himself gifted copies to another musician and recusant, [[John Petre, 1st Baron Petre|Sir John Petre]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=GB-CF MS D/DP Z6/1 - DIAMM |url=https://www.diamm.ac.uk/sources/989/#/ |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=www.diamm.ac.uk}}</ref> Byrd modelled his ''[[Great Service (Byrd)|Great Service]]'' and ''Laudate pueri'' on earlier settings by Tallis.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":5" /> Although Tallis did progress with the continuing changes in English music, his surviving works became outdated by the [[English Madrigal School|English Madrigal period]] and the direct influence of Tallis' music waned. [[Thomas Morley]], in his 1597 ''Plaine and Easie Introduction to Practicall Musicke,'' names "[[Robert Fayrfax|Fairfax]], [[John Taverner|Taverner]], [[John Sheppard (composer)|Sheppard]], Mundy, [[William White (composer)|White]], [[William Parsons (composer and copyist)|Parsons]], W. Byrde" as equals to [[Orlando di Lasso|Lassus]], and among the greatest composers of their day. Tallis has quite obviously been omitted.{{sfn|Domingos|2012}}

Modern scholars generally believe that Tallis stood out among other important composers of the time, including [[Christopher Tye]] and [[Robert White (composer)|Robert White]]. The author and composer [[Ernest Walker (composer)|Ernest Walker]] wrote that "he had more versatility of style" than Tye and White, and "his general handling of his material was more consistently easy and certain".{{sfn|Walker|1907|p=44}} John Milsom, musicologist and editor of [[early music]] scores, wrote that Tallis modified and revised his scores far more than [[John Sheppard (composer)|John Sheppard]] and White, deliberately aligning later copies of his older works to a newer continental technique of [[imitative counterpoint]].{{sfn|Milsom|1988}} David Allinson, musicologist and director of music at [[Canterbury Christ Church University]], commented in a 2005 NPR segment that Tallis' "''Spem in alium'' is about twenty times better'" than Striggio's 40-part motet because "where the Striggio is content to rely on big, harmonic effects and contrasts, Tallis' piece is a truly woven polyphonic piece of music."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2005-09-11 |title=Tribute to Thomas Tallis |url=https://www.kasu.org/music-arts/2005-09-10/tribute-to-thomas-tallis?utm_source=chatgpt.com |access-date=2025-04-18 |website=KASU |language=en}}</ref> Also in 2005, Tess Knighton, musicologist and historian, wrote that Tallis was, "undoubtably a genius".{{sfn|Knighton|2005}}

In 1971, the [[Thomas Tallis School]] in [[Kidbrooke]] opened, a mixed [[comprehensive school]] named after the composer.

=== Revival ===
Most of Tallis' music that remained in continuous use following his death was his music in the English language,<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Phillips |first=Peter |date=2021-07-29 |title=No More D Minor |url=https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v43/n15/peter-phillips/no-more-d-minor |access-date=2025-04-08 |work=London Review of Books |language=en |volume=43 |issue=15 |issn=0260-9592}}</ref> mostly notably his Dorian Service, individual movement settings such as the ''Benedictus'' and ''Te Deum for means'', two sets of responses, two double-chants and various other hymns, psalms and anthems for the [[Book of Common Prayer]]. It was only in the [[Victorian era|Victorian period]], when interest in [[early music]] began to increase, that ''Spem in alium'' was rediscovered and began to be experimented with immediately.<ref name=":0" /> 20th century composers, such as [[Ralph Vaughan Williams]] and [[Herbert Howells]], borrowed Tallis' themes for use in their own music. In the 1920s, the monumental series ''Tudor Church Music'', produced with the support of the [[Carnegie United Kingdom Trust|Carnegie Trust]], revived Tallis' Latin music from across his career. [[R. R. Terry]], chairman of the Carnegie trust at the time, pushed for the revival of Tudor church music in order to increase the choral repertoire for use at [[Westminster Cathedral]].<ref name="hyperion-records.co.uk"/>

Early music groups, such as the [[Clerkes of Oxenford]] and [[The Tallis Scholars]], further contributed to interest in Tallis' Latin music. Chapelle du Roi recorded the complete works of Tallis in 2005 to celebrate 500 years since the estimated birth of Thomas Tallis.<ref name="BBC" /> Alamire also recorded ''Se Lord and behold'' for their 2017 album Queen Katherine Parr and Songs of Reformation under the label Obsidian.<ref name=":3" />

=== Appearance ===
No contemporaneous portrait of Tallis survives; the one painted by [[Gerard Vandergucht]] dates from 150 years after the composer's death, and there is no reason to suppose that it is a fair likeness. In a rare existing copy of his [[blackletter]] signature, he spelled his name "Tallys".{{sfn|Cole|2008b|p=62}}

=== In popular culture ===
A fictionalised version of [[Thomas Tallis (The Tudors)|Thomas Tallis]] was portrayed by [[Joe Van Moyland]] in the 2007 [[Showtime (TV network)|Showtime]] television series ''[[The Tudors]]''.<ref name="BBC" /> In 2018, ''If ye love me'' was sung at the [[Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle|wedding]] of [[Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex|Prince Harry]] and [[Meghan, Duchess of Sussex]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=What music was played at the Royal Wedding? |url=https://www.classicfm.com/events/royal-wedding/music-played-royal-wedding/ |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=Classic FM |language=en}}</ref>

The [[Gloria in excelsis Deo|Gloria]] of ''Missa Puer natus est nobis'' was rearranged by Tangerine Dream and used in their soundtrack for [[The Keep (film)|The Keep]]. ''Spem in alium'' features prominently in films such as [[Touching the Void (film)|Touching the Void (2003)]]<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379557/soundtrack/ |title=Touching the Void (2003) - Soundtracks - IMDb |language=en-US |access-date=2025-04-17 |via=www.imdb.com}}</ref> and [[Boychoir (film)|Boychoir (2014)]],<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3302706/soundtrack/?ref_=tt_dyk_snd |title=Boychoir (2014) - Soundtracks - IMDb |language=en-US |access-date=2025-04-17 |via=www.imdb.com}}</ref> as well as television programmes such as [[Endeavour (TV series)|Endeavour (2019)]] and [[Mystery Road (TV series)|Mystery Road (2020)]]. ''Spem in alium'' reached the No. 1 spot on the Classical Singles Chart in 2012 after being featured in the [[Fifty Shades of Grey#Classical album|classical album for Fifty Shades of Grey]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tallis Scholars on top after 50 Shades of Grey effect |url=https://www.classicfm.com/artists/tallis-scholars/news/tallis-scholars-top-after-50-shades-grey-effect/ |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=Classic FM |language=en}}</ref> ''Audivi vocem'' features in [[Inspector Gadget (film)|Inspector Gadget (1999)]] and [[The Perfect Game|The Perfect Game (2009)]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Thomas Tallis {{!}} Music Department, Composer, Soundtrack |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1720469/?ref_=ttsnd |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=IMDb |language=en-US}}</ref> ''If ye love me'' features in [[Wreckers (film)|Wreckers (2011)]]<ref>{{Citation |last=Hood |first=Dictynna |title=Wreckers |date=2011-12-16 |type=Drama |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1650028/ |access-date=2025-04-17 |others=Claire Foy, Benedict Cumberbatch, Shaun Evans |publisher=Likely Story}}</ref> and [[Vox Lux|Vox Lux (2018)]],<ref>{{Citation |last=Corbet |first=Brady |title=Vox Lux |date=2018-12-20 |type=Drama, Music |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5960374/?ref_=nm_flmg_job_3_cdt_t_3 |access-date=2025-04-17 |others=Natalie Portman, Jude Law, Stacy Martin |publisher=Bold Films, Killer Films, Andrew Lauren Productions}}</ref> while Tallis' ''Te Deum'' ''for means'' can be heard during Queen Elizabeth's coronation in [[Elizabeth (film)|Elizabeth (1998)]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Kapur |first=Shekhar |title=Elizabeth |date=1999-02-19 |type=Biography, Drama, History |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0127536/ |access-date=2025-04-17 |others=Cate Blanchett, Liz Giles, Rod Culbertson |publisher=Polygram Filmed Entertainment, Working Title Films, Channel Four Films}}</ref>

==References==
===Notes===
{{Reflist|group=n}}

===Citations===
{{Reflist|refs=

<!-- <ref name=CW>{{cite web|url=http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Gaude_gloriosa_Dei_Mater_(Thomas_Tallis)|title=Gaude gloriosa Dei Mater (Thomas Tallis) |website= ChoralWiki|access-date=25 February 2017}}</ref> -->

<ref name=hymnary>{{cite web|url=http://www.hymnary.org/tune/tallis_canon |title=Tallis's Canon|website=Hymnary.org|access-date=}}</ref>

<ref name=BBC>{{cite web |title=BBC Two - The Tudors, Series 1, Episode 1 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008187l |website=BBC |access-date=27 January 2019 |date=5 October 2007}}</ref>

}}

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*{{cite book |last=Stainer|first=John |year=1898 |title=Dufay and his contemporaries |publisher=Novello |url=https://archive.org/details/dufayandhiscont00nichgoog}}
* {{cite book |last=Shrock |first=Dennis |year=2009 |title=Choral Repertoire |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-971662-3 |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=xgzYae1n__EC}} }}
* {{cite book |last=Schubert |first=Peter |year=2008 |title=Modal Counterpoint, Renaissance Style |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=9780195331943 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5JUYAQAAIAAJ}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Skinner |first=David |date=2016 |title='Deliuer me from my deceytful ennemies': a Tallis contrafactum in time of war  |url=https://academic.oup.com/em/article-abstract/44/2/233/2196912|journal=Oxford Academic |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages= 233–250|doi=10.1093/em/caw044|url-access=subscription }}
* {{cite book |last=Steinberg |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Steinberg (music critic) |year=2008 |title=Choral Masterworks: A Listener's Guide |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-534066-2 |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=vZk6DwAAQBAJ}} }}
*{{cite book |last=Thomas|first=Jane Resh |year=1998 |title=Behind the Mask: The Life of Queen Elizabeth I |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt]] |isbn=978-0-395-69120-5 |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=nSskqOSBkVEC}} }}
* {{cite book |last=Walker |first=Ernest |author-link=Ernest Walker (composer) |year=1907 |title=A History of Music in England |publisher=[[Clarendon Press]] |location=Oxford |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofmusicin00walkuoft |oclc=869715}}
* {{cite book |last=Willis |first=Jonathan |year=2016 |title=Church Music and Protestantism in Post-Reformation England: Discourses, Sites and Identities |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1-317-16624-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hrBZ9npRAHEC}}
* {{cite journal| last=Wulfstan |first=David |year=1990 |title=Liner Notes ed. Sally Dunkley|journal=Tallis' Christmas Mass CDGIM034}}
* {{cite book |last=Wulfstan |first=David |year=1985 |title=Tudor Music |publisher=J.M Dent |isbn=978-0-460-04412-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mIO0AAAAIAAJ}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite EB1911|wstitle=Tallis, Thomas|volume=26|ref=none}}
* {{cite journal |last=Collins |first=H. B. |year=1929 |title=Thomas Tallis |journal=[[Music & Letters]] |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=152–166 |doi=10.1093/ml/X.2.152 |jstor=726038 |url=https://academic.oup.com/ml/article-abstract/X/2/152/1242704 |issn=0027-4224 |ref=none |url-access=subscription }}
* {{cite DNB|wstitle=Tallis, Thomas |volume=55|first=Henry |last=Davey|ref=none}}
* {{cite thesis |last=Milsom |first=John |date=1983 |title=English Polyphonic Style in Transition: a study of the sacred music of Thomas Tallis |publisher=University of Oxford |oclc=29743412 |url=https://www.diamm.ac.uk/resources/doctoral-dissertations/english-polyphonic-style-transition-study-sacred-music-thomas-tallis/ |ref=none}}
* {{cite journal |last=Pike |first=Lionel |year=1984 |title=Tallis: Vaughan Williams: Howells: Reflections on Mode Three |journal=[[Tempo (journal)|Tempo]] |issue=149 |pages=2–13 |doi=10.1017/S0040298200058496 |jstor=945078 |s2cid=143715625 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/945078 |ref=none | url-access=subscription }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* Recordings of church music by Tallis in [http://www.acc.umu.se/~akadkor/early/IVM6_Tallis_Thomas.html Latin] and [http://www.acc.umu.se/~akadkor/early/IVM7_Tallis_Thomas.html English] from {{ill|Umeå Akademiska Kör |sv}}
* {{MutopiaComposer|TallisT}}
* {{DIAMM|pid=194|pname=Thomas Tallis}} <small>([[Wikipedia:Verifiability#Access to sources|registration required to view the digitised images]])</small>
* {{ChoralWiki}}
* {{IMSLP|id=Tallis, Thomas}}
* [http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/illmanus/landmanucoll/o/011lan000000763u00124v00.html Image of Tallis's signature] in a book from one of his early places of employment, Waltham Abbey.
* [https://eecm.tcd.ie/composers/794 Works by Tallis] listed at the EECM Primary Source Database

{{Thomas Tallis|state=open}}
{{English Votive Style|state=collapsed}}
{{Renaissance music|state=collapsed}}
{{Portal bar|Classical music|England|Biography|Music}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tallis, Thomas}}
[[Category:Thomas Tallis| ]]
[[Category:1500s births]]
[[Category:1585 deaths]]
[[Category:16th-century English composers]]
[[Category:16th-century English musicians]]
[[Category:English classical composers of church music]]
[[Category:English male classical composers]]
[[Category:English Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Gentlemen of the Chapel Royal]]
[[Category:English Renaissance composers]]