Thomas Tallis
  • leprechaun093
    Posts: 13
    I would like to do Tallis' Verily, Verily with an intermediate level choir. Is anyone familiar with the level of difficulty of this piece? It appears to have some harmonic jumps would be more difficult than normal. Is it deceptively easier than it looks? Thanks.
  • Chris Garton-Zavesky
    Posts: 6,902
    I know the piece, but your question lacks one piece of information. What does "intermediate level choir" already sing well?
  • leprechaun093
    Posts: 13
    A choir that has the technical capability for pieces such as the Hallelujah Chorus, Franck's Psalm 150, and a generally relative ability to find their pitches, but has not had much experience with a capella.
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,093
    I would Verily Verily is, like many Tallis' pieces, a bit deceptive: it includes his telltale syncopations and false relations that can trip up unconfident singers (and even confident ones). Whereas there are pieces in his psalter for Abp Parker that are more straightforward.

    All that said, it would probably be illuminating for you to rehearse the piece for consideration for eventual use, to determine how much preparation it would likely require.
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen M. Jackson Osborn
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,415
    It is a marvelous motet.
    Don't shy away from it.
    If your choir can sing Handel's Hallelujah, which has some complexity of rhythm and line, they should be able to sing Verily, verily. I think that the most challenging aspect would be, as Liam observes, the cross relations. But 'pulling these off' is really great fun.
    Thanked by 2Liam CHGiffen
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,093
    Yes, though the syncopations (I liken them to sliding a bit on ice) in the middle voices can be tricky if your middle voices are the less confident of the group, as is sometimes unfortunately the case.
  • Felipe Gasper
    Posts: 804
    Fantastic piece. It has something to say to choirs of every skill level.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • SalieriSalieri
    Posts: 3,177
    I love Verily, verily: I can imagine Tallis quietly smiling to himself in the stalls at Whitehall singing this while the Musician Elizabeth listened in rapt attention and the Bishop of London grew ever more irritated by its Popery.
    Thanked by 3M. Jackson Osborn Liam CHGiffen
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