VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis

Posted on October 20, 2021

The ravishingly-beautiful Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis, for double-string orchestra, was first performed at the famed Three Choirs Festival in 1910. This work is Vaughan Williams’ first major piece for a large ensemble and it created a huge sensation in Europe—and did much to put British music back on the map at the start of the 20th century. Although not the first work to look back to England’s “Golden Age of Music,” the Tallis Fantasia is the most striking: it is constructed from a chant tune — the “Third Mode Melody” — which Thomas Tallis had penned in 1567. Vaughan Williams discovered this melody while editing the English Hymnal in 1906. The Tallis Fantasia was revised in 1913 and again in 1919 shortly before its publication, which had been delayed by the Great War. Tallis’ noble tune possesses some rhythmic irregularities, which triggered Vaughan Williams’ curiosity for variation treatment. Along with being cast in the Phrygian mode (with flattened second, third, sixth and seventh degrees of the scale) the tune is quite haunting as it develops—like an act of meditation.

Knowing that the Fantasia would be premiered in the spacious environs of Gloucester Cathedral, Vaughan Williams incorporated some important antiphonal effects by utilizing a small second orchestra from within the large string body, to give the impression of answering choirs across the opulent building. Additional textural contrasts are infused into the seamless flow of sound, including solo violin and viola, as well as a string quartet. There are four sections to the Tallis Fantasia: the first presents the Theme, beginning with soft fragments before it blossoms fortissimo in the full orchestra. The orchestra is divided in the second section. A solo viola initiates the third and longest section, which forms the intense development and emotional climax of the work. The final section acts as a recapitulation, with further homage to the Theme from tremolo strings and an ethereal solo violin. By looking back Vaughan Williams created something very special and new in this work. As Christopher Palmer comments, “The result is in no sense a pastiche, rather it is living, breathing musical tissue, a supreme commentary by one great composer on another…as in a great cathedral, deepest shadow lurks in a recess while dazzling radiance streams from a stained-glass window.”

Hear this piece performed at PYP’s concert on November 13, 2021.

Huw Edwards 2021