Thomas Tallis.(BRIEFLY NOTED)(The Complete Works)(Sound recording review)

Thomas Tallis. The Complete Works. Chapelle du Roi / Alistair Dixon. Signum SIGCD060, 2004.

The seed that eventually grew into this magnificent nine-volume boxed set was planted in 1995, when the newly-formed Chapelle du Roi presented the complete works of Thomas Tallis in a series of six concerts. It was subsequently decided that the choir would record the entire repertoire as well, releasing discs at a rate of roughly one per year. Ten years later, this box makes it possible to purchase all of the discs at once (though not, unfortunately, at any significant discount: U. S. shoppers can buy the individual discs for $16-$19 each, or the boxed set for between $160 and $230, depending on one's choice of retailer). This ambitious project not only called for a significant investment of rehearsal and recording time, but also required director Alistair Dixon to prepare new performing editions of several previously unpublished works, all of which will be made available commercially in the future through the Cantiones Press. Signum Records, now called Signum Classics, was founded especially for this recording project. The result of this tremendous investment of time, effort, and capital is a stunning musical achievement--not only in terms of scale and completeness, but in musical ...