Biography
Among composers active in England during his era, Taverner ranked foremost and exerted lasting influence on the national tradition. Lincolnshire was his birthplace; he held a distinguished appointment at Oxford’s Cardinal College, an institution that proved short-lived, before returning to conclude his days in the same county’s town of Boston. The bulk of his output evidently dates from his earlier years, prior to the Reformation’s complete impact upon English musical life and ahead of any thorough absorption of continental methods.
His reputation rests chiefly on expansive sacred choral works, among them multiple masses, votive antiphons, and magnificats. Taverner’s idiom constitutes the culminating achievement of the distinctively English florid style, relying on intricate independent counterpoint and prolonged melismatic peaks suited to expert solo voices. At the same time, his handling of material reflects selected continental approaches to development, notably through motivic links that operate both inside individual movements and across them.
Particular esteem attaches to his three grand festal masses—Gloria Tibi Trinitas, Corona Spinea, and O Michael—for their inventive range and structural assurance. The “In Nomine” passage within the Benedictus of Missa Gloria Tibi Trinitas, which Taverner himself first transcribed for instruments, furnished the model for an entirely new English compositional genre that maintained vitality through Purcell’s time. Written amid a period of upheaval in English history, Taverner’s music continues to be valued for its blend of contemplative and forward-looking qualities.
His reputation rests chiefly on expansive sacred choral works, among them multiple masses, votive antiphons, and magnificats. Taverner’s idiom constitutes the culminating achievement of the distinctively English florid style, relying on intricate independent counterpoint and prolonged melismatic peaks suited to expert solo voices. At the same time, his handling of material reflects selected continental approaches to development, notably through motivic links that operate both inside individual movements and across them.
Particular esteem attaches to his three grand festal masses—Gloria Tibi Trinitas, Corona Spinea, and O Michael—for their inventive range and structural assurance. The “In Nomine” passage within the Benedictus of Missa Gloria Tibi Trinitas, which Taverner himself first transcribed for instruments, furnished the model for an entirely new English compositional genre that maintained vitality through Purcell’s time. Written amid a period of upheaval in English history, Taverner’s music continues to be valued for its blend of contemplative and forward-looking qualities.
Albums
