We played Tallis (2024)
for two viols & four pianos
Duration 4'30"
The title of this piece has triple meaning: the viols play a fragmented Tallis’ Canon; the word
“Tallis” is encoded in the music using morse code to determine some structural aspects of the
phrases; and it also captures a personal episode of rekindled connection with practical music-
making through an introduction to playing the viola da gamba. Susanna Pell kindly introduced
me, and we played Tallis.
The mood is nostalgic and sentimental, and the uneven, natural rhythms in the piano material are achieved by having the four pianists play at different tempi, each tempo determined using concepts of circular motion.
I think from my perspective, it’s a piece about memory, history and human connection — ideas that haunt me these days. Thomas Tallis lived — c.1505-1585 — and this canon of his happens to remind me firstly of school, but as a concept, it’s networked in my own mind to so many other musical and non-musical events and ideas.
So grateful to everyone involved in learning, performing, recording & mixing it:
The mood is nostalgic and sentimental, and the uneven, natural rhythms in the piano material are achieved by having the four pianists play at different tempi, each tempo determined using concepts of circular motion.
I think from my perspective, it’s a piece about memory, history and human connection — ideas that haunt me these days. Thomas Tallis lived — c.1505-1585 — and this canon of his happens to remind me firstly of school, but as a concept, it’s networked in my own mind to so many other musical and non-musical events and ideas.
So grateful to everyone involved in learning, performing, recording & mixing it:
- viols: Mari MacGregor & moi
- pianos: Katie Laing, Daniel Hughes, Qianrui Fei & Naomi Dragomir
- binaural mix: Haoping Zhang