Hear the Voice and Prayer. Thomas Tallis. Tallis Scholars. Peter Phillips, conductor.

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00:00 Title, Intro
00:13 Traditional score
03:11 Scrolling score

Hear the Voice and Prayer
Thomas Tallis
(c. 1505 – 23 November 1585)
Tallis Scholars.
Peter Phillips, conductor

“Hear the Voice and Prayer” is a well-known anthem by Thomas Tallis, a prominent English composer of the Renaissance. The piece is a setting of Psalm 28:2, expressing a plea for divine favor and protection. It is a four-voice motet, meaning it is a polyphonic choral work with a sacred text. The piece is known for its clear and balanced harmonies, characteristic of Tallis's style, and its effective use of musical devices to convey the emotional weight of the prayer.

This is another of Tallis’s early anthems, composed during the reign of King Edward VI, probably for use by the Chapel Royal. In line with the demands of the Protestant reformers, the words are declaimed plainly and simply so that the listener can follow them. They come from the Old Testament book of Kings I.

St Alfege Church, Greenwich, stained glass, Thomas Tallis
In manus tuas is a setting of the respond from Compline. It differs slightly from Tallis's other motet settings in that it has a 22-note compass rather than 19 or 20 and therefore does not lend itself to the possibility of performance at dual pitches. This is not to imply that it was intended for liturgical use; it is still a respond-motet, unperformable in a correct liturgical form.