The Tallis Scholars at Saffron Hall: sublime and moving (original) (raw)

Peter Phillips, who founded the Tallis Scholars in 1973, conducted this exceptional show. Photo by Roberto Serra – Iguana Press/Getty Images

Arriving at Saffron Hall to review the Tallis Scholars’ “Mysteries and Miracles”, a concert exploring several centuries of sacred music, I was surprised to be seated at the end of a row towards the back of the auditorium rather than closer to the stage. The reason why became clear after the interval when the vocal ensemble returned to perform Gregorio Allegri’s “Miserere mei Deus” (“Have mercy upon me, O God”), the piece the young Mozart was supposed to have memorised and transcribed after hearing it on a visit with his father to the Vatican in Holy Week. But four of the ten scholars were absent and one, the tenor Simon Wall, stood apart from the main group. Who among the assembled, therefore, would sing the celebrated high top C?

The answer was the soprano Emma Walshe, who was not on stage but, as we discovered, in the walkway directly below me, together with the three other “absent” singers. This second choir could not be seen by most of the audience but could be heard, and the purity of their voices and resulting stereophonic effects were as sublime as they were moving.

Saffron Hall, which I have written about before in these pages, is both a 740-seat musical venue and the main hall of Saffron Walden County High School, in the old, well-preserved Quaker town in north-west Essex. The acoustics are exceptional, and the programme of classical and jazz concerts attracts some of the world’s finest musicians and orchestras.

Founded in 1973 by Peter Phillips, who was conducting, the Tallis Scholars are committed to interpreting the sacred vocal music of the Renaissance. But they roam across centuries (John Tavener wrote for them) and featured in the concert were new pieces by Charlotte Robertson and Ryan Collis, winners of the 2024 National Centre for Early Music Young Composers Award. And the good news for readers is that “Mysteries and Miracles” was recorded by BBC Radio 3 for a future broadcast at 5pm on Sunday 17 November 2024. Don’t miss it.

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This article appears in the 30 Oct 2024 issue of the New Statesman, American Horror Story