What marks this recording out from other compilations of Tallis’s choral masterpieces is that the majority of the works here are unashamedly functional, designed as they were to adorn the liturgy of the Office. If this means that hymns and responds (of interchanging plainsong and polyphony) are by their nature less festive and flamboyant than sweeping free-style motets, then that is by no means an indictment; as John Caldwell writes in his clear and informative note, through such relative simplicity comes “a quiet dignity that is inherently moving”. This is certainly evident in a sensitively programmed disc of works composed for the Latin rite, as well as those odd pieces with no particular liturgical function, such as the famous Salvator mundi and O nata lux. Particularly impressive here is the way the Choir of St John’s, Cambridge, under Christopher Robinson, opt for a style which shuns affectation and instead delivers performances notable for musicianly shaping of phrases, and a refined and controlled beauty, yet one where the excellent boys can demonstrate their considerable versatility, tonally and otherwise. Vocal balance and timbre are most satisfying, especially in the tantalizing detachment and consequent intensity of Jam Christus astra ascenderat and the shimmering strains of Videte. This is quintessential Tallis: full-breathed lines whose simplicity and direction (let alone deft relationship to the plainsong cantus firmus) bring untold affirmation to the message of the texts. Robinson never forces the pace, an approach which suits the seamless and unassuming clarity of the plainsong verses.
With some organ interludes delightfully played by Robert Woolley on the historic organ of Plougean in Brittany, this amounts to a fine addition to the catalogue. Some may prefer the lush and homogenized textures of The Tallis Scholars, and others the star-studded and delectably finished Taverner Choir under Andrew Parrott. Each says a great deal about this wonderful music but St John’s can join them in this colourful and exquisite corner of Tallis’s oeuvre.'