Tallis Scholars to perform at Oberlin College
01:45 PM
Feb 14
2012
Feb 14
2012
Want to go?
WHAT: The Tallis Scholars
WHEN: 8 p.m. Feb. 15
WHERE: Finney Chapel, 90 N. Professor St., Oberlin
COST: $37/public, $27/seniors and OC staff/faculty, $12/students (all tickets are $3 more at door)
INFO: 440-775-8169 or oberlin.edu/artsguide/artist-recital-series/tallis.shtml
For those who love golden oldies music, here’s something that will really take you back. Over the past four decades, The Tallis Scholars have established themselves as the leading exponents of Renaissance sacred music. In a nutshell, the outfit is 11 singers who perform sacred and secular music to artsy and eclectic audiences looking for something different.
“I became interested in it by singing it as a boy in the cathedrals,” said founder-director Peter Phillips, calling from the U.K. “We did a lot of this repertoire just in church services when I was young. But this is a concert-giving group so you’re taking the music out of the church context and putting it into concert halls. The music itself is religious but we don’t sing it as a religious outfit. We sing it as good music in concert halls. There is English music and a whole tradition of it all over Europe. They have their own traditions but we like to do all of it, and what we’re singing in Oberlin is largely Italian.”
In fact, the program The Tallis Scholars will be performing Feb. 15 at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music’s Finney Chapel is based around material by Carlo Gesualdo, who had quite a history when he died in the early 17th Century.
“He’s kind of wild, so this is special,” Phillips said. “The first half is all by this guy and there are nine pieces there. They’re all extraordinary, and he’s very experimental, which is what the organizers wanted. It’s very peculiar music. He’s quite a famous historical figure for various reasons. He was an aristocrat who had his wife murdered. He caught her in bed with someone else. It also might explain why his music is so extreme. It’s all quite similar. There’s a style there.”
Phillips said the material has a transcendent feel buoyed by various emotions. For example, Gesualdo is particularly interested in death and blood and nails and things like that. In some ways he sounds goth. Or even better, he fits right into the current vampire zeitgeist. If only Bela had heard The Tallis Scholars perform Gesualdo’s music perhaps she’d never have fallen for Edward.
As for the touring act, it performs roughly 70 shows annually around the world. In the past The Tallis Scholars have shared the stage with Sting and Sir Paul McCartney. Despite its acceptance, one of its biggest hurdles – a head scratcher of sorts – has to do with the fact it’s a vocal group. This idea continues to haunt and frustrate Phillips.
“There are no instruments involved so a lot of people think that music isn’t really music unless there are instruments,” Phillips said. “So people actually say ‘Where’s the music?’ meaning ‘Where’s the orchestra?’ That’s really annoying.”
He quickly added, “It’s proved to be incredibly popular in very unlikely places. Anyone who is interested in good music would enjoy it. I’ve been marketing this repertoire as something that goes alongside string quartets and piano recitals and chamber orchestras. It’s just another repertoire that’s top quality. Anyone who is interested in classical music should come along.”
The Tallis Scholars appear at 8 p.m. Feb. 15 at Finney Chapel, 90 North Professor St., Oberlin. Tickets are $37 public, $27 seniors/OC staff & faculty, $12 students. All tickets are $3 more at the door. For more information, call 440-775-8169 or visit online http://oberlin.edu/artsguide/artist-recital-series/tallis.shtml.
“I became interested in it by singing it as a boy in the cathedrals,” said founder-director Peter Phillips, calling from the U.K. “We did a lot of this repertoire just in church services when I was young. But this is a concert-giving group so you’re taking the music out of the church context and putting it into concert halls. The music itself is religious but we don’t sing it as a religious outfit. We sing it as good music in concert halls. There is English music and a whole tradition of it all over Europe. They have their own traditions but we like to do all of it, and what we’re singing in Oberlin is largely Italian.”
In fact, the program The Tallis Scholars will be performing Feb. 15 at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music’s Finney Chapel is based around material by Carlo Gesualdo, who had quite a history when he died in the early 17th Century.
“He’s kind of wild, so this is special,” Phillips said. “The first half is all by this guy and there are nine pieces there. They’re all extraordinary, and he’s very experimental, which is what the organizers wanted. It’s very peculiar music. He’s quite a famous historical figure for various reasons. He was an aristocrat who had his wife murdered. He caught her in bed with someone else. It also might explain why his music is so extreme. It’s all quite similar. There’s a style there.”
Phillips said the material has a transcendent feel buoyed by various emotions. For example, Gesualdo is particularly interested in death and blood and nails and things like that. In some ways he sounds goth. Or even better, he fits right into the current vampire zeitgeist. If only Bela had heard The Tallis Scholars perform Gesualdo’s music perhaps she’d never have fallen for Edward.
As for the touring act, it performs roughly 70 shows annually around the world. In the past The Tallis Scholars have shared the stage with Sting and Sir Paul McCartney. Despite its acceptance, one of its biggest hurdles – a head scratcher of sorts – has to do with the fact it’s a vocal group. This idea continues to haunt and frustrate Phillips.
“There are no instruments involved so a lot of people think that music isn’t really music unless there are instruments,” Phillips said. “So people actually say ‘Where’s the music?’ meaning ‘Where’s the orchestra?’ That’s really annoying.”
He quickly added, “It’s proved to be incredibly popular in very unlikely places. Anyone who is interested in good music would enjoy it. I’ve been marketing this repertoire as something that goes alongside string quartets and piano recitals and chamber orchestras. It’s just another repertoire that’s top quality. Anyone who is interested in classical music should come along.”
The Tallis Scholars appear at 8 p.m. Feb. 15 at Finney Chapel, 90 North Professor St., Oberlin. Tickets are $37 public, $27 seniors/OC staff & faculty, $12 students. All tickets are $3 more at the door. For more information, call 440-775-8169 or visit online http://oberlin.edu/artsguide/artist-recital-series/tallis.shtml.
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