Taverner: Missa Gloria tibi Trinitas & Other Sacred Music

Featuring

Harry Christophers
The Sixteen
John Taverner

Did you know?

1/6

Recording & Production

This recording was made on March 17, 1984, with Antony Howell as the Recording Engineer and Mark Brown as the Recording Producer.

Historical Context

There is no truth to the claim that Taverner was a fanatical persecutor while employed by Thomas Cromwell to survey monasteries before their dissolution, with documentary evidence suggesting his concern for monks and friars.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Taverner's music represents the final development of the florid late-medieval English style, while also incorporating new aesthetic and technical features from continental European music.

Composer Biography

John Taverner, the composer, is first documented in 1525 as a lay clerk at the collegiate church of Tattershall, an important musical establishment.

Compositional Technique

The 'In nomine' instrumental form, distinguished by its cantus firmus, the 'Gloria tibi Trinitas' plainchant, was inspired by a section of Taverner's Benedictus and widely cultivated by English composers.

Composition History

Taverner was appointed choirmaster at Cardinal College (now Christ Church), Oxford, founded by Cardinal Wolsey, which was lavishly endowed with a choir of sixteen choristers and twelve 'clerkes skilled in polyphony'.