Welcome to Hyperion Records, an independent British classical label devoted to presenting high-quality recordings of music of all styles and from all periods from the twelfth century to the twenty-first.

Hyperion offers both CDs, and downloads in a number of formats. The site is also available in several languages.

Please use the dropdown buttons to set your preferred options, or use the checkbox to accept the defaults.

Click cover art to view larger version
Track(s) taken from CDA66400

Te lucis ante terminum I

composer
5vv ATTBarB; Festal tone; Cantiones, quae ab argumento sacrae vocantur, 1575
author of text
Hymn at Compline

Winchester Cathedral Choir, David Hill (conductor)
Recording details: July 1989
Winchester Cathedral, United Kingdom
Produced by Mark Brown
Engineered by Antony Howell
Release date: February 1990
Total duration: 2 minutes 21 seconds

Cover artwork: The Nativity (detail). Gérard David (active 1484-1523)
 

Other recordings available for download

Westminster Cathedral Choir, Martin Baker (conductor)
The Cardinall's Musick, Andrew Carwood (conductor)
The Gesualdo Six, Owain Park (director)
The Cambridge Singers, John Rutter (conductor)
Chapelle du Roi, Alistair Dixon (conductor)

Reviews

‘Never before has Spem in alium, Tallis's great 40-part motet, so closely resembled The Last Judgement as it does in this vast and awesome performance’ (Gramophone)

‘A thrilling large scale performance’ (CDReview)

‘A magnificent sound’ (Daily Mail)
Thomas Tallis wrote two settings of the compline hymn Te lucis ante terminum, both of which were published in the 1575 Cantiones sacrae. This first setting—like the second—sets only the middle of the three verses in polyphony. The treble part replicates the pitches of the pre-existent chant melody note for note (with the addition of a single ornamental leading note at the final cadence) in a lilting triple-time rhythm, and the accompanying harmonization is a model of economy and placid beauty, nowhere more so than at the delicately handled Picardian cadence at the end of the third phrase.

from notes by Jeremy Summerly © 2013

Thomas Tallis fit deux mises en musique de l’hymne de complies Te lucis ante terminum. Toutes deux figurent dans les Cantiones sacrae de 1575; comme la seconde, cette première ne met en polyphonie que la deuxième des trois strophes. La partie de treble reproduit note pour note les hauteurs de son de la mélodie grégorienne préexistante (avec l’ajout d’une unique sensible ornementale à la cadence finale), sur un allant rythme ternaire, et l’harmonisation d’accompagnement est un modèle d’économie et de beauté placide, qui n’apparaît nulle part mieux qu’à la cadence picarde, subtilement manipulée, à la fin de la troisième phrase.

extrait des notes rédigées par Jeremy Summerly © 2013
Français: Hypérion

Thomas Tallis schrieb zwei Vertonungen des Komplet-Hymnus Te lucis ante terminum, die beide in den Cantiones sacrae von 1575 veröffentlicht wurden. Hier liegt die erste Version vor, in der—ebenso wie in der zweiten—nur der mittlere der drei Verse polyphon vertont ist. Die Treble-Stimme gibt die bereits bestehende Melodie des Cantus planus Ton für Ton wieder (wobei der Schlusskadenz ein Leitton zur Verzierung hinzugefügt ist), die in einen beschwingten Dreierrhythmus eingepasst ist. Die begleitende Harmonisierung ist ein Vorbild an Ökonomie und friedlicher Schönheit, insbesondere bei der behutsam gesetzten Kadenz mit Picardischer Terz am Ende der dritten Phrase.

aus dem Begleittext von Jeremy Summerly © 2013
Deutsch: Viola Scheffel

Other albums featuring this work

Fading
Studio Master: CDA68285Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
Lighten our Darkness
COLCD1312CDs Download only
Miserere
Studio Master: CDA67938Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
Tallis: Ave, rosa sine spinis & other sacred music
Studio Master: CDA68076 Early Choral albums for £8.00Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
Tallis: The Complete Works, Vol. 5
SIGCD016Download only
Waiting for content to load...
Waiting for content to load...