Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis

As I’ve been doing some research and score study for a new composition, I came across Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis by British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958). After listening to it on repeat this week, I thought I’d share it with you!

Background

Composed in 1910, Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (also known as the Tallis Fantasia) is based on a melody written by English Renaissance composer Thomas Tallis (c. 1505-1585). Vaughan Williams came across the tune while he was editing a new English hymnal, and he decided to explore the theme a little more.

*Fun fact: Vaughan Williams was not a household name when this work premiered, but the success of the Fantasia made him a staple in the English classical repertoire.

Thomas Tallis’s Theme

In 1567, Tallis composed nine melodies for the Archbishop of Canterbury’s collection of psalms. Vaughan Williams used the third of these, “Why fum’th in sight” based on Psalm 2, as the basis for his Fantasia. Tallis wrote the tune in the Phrygian mode:

For more information on the history of the Tallis Fantasia, read this article here.

Vaughan Williams’s Fantasia

Known for interjecting English folk and Renaissance stylings into his music, it’s no surprise that Vaughan Williams composed an entire work based on a Renaissance theme. In the Tallis Fantasia, he combines minor third intervals (from Tallis’s theme) with flattened seventh intervals (a characteristic particular to English folk music) and Picardy thirds (a Renaissance technique where minor thirds become major thirds). All of these ideas work together, shifting the tonality of the work and adding color and mystery to the atmosphere.

Vaughan Williams scored his Fantasia for an expanded string orchestra divided into three parts: 1) a full-sized string orchestra, 2) a small group composed of a single player from each string section, and 3) a string quartet. Ideally, these orchestras are placed apart from each other in the performance venue to imitate the sound of an organ. This also allows for an eerie change in texture when the music transitions from the full orchestra to the small.

Analysis

Vaughan Williams wrote Fantasia in the Renaissance style of composition known as the “fantasy” (a.k.a. “fantasia”). With roots in improvisation, a fantasia builds out of a theme in a flowing and impromptu style.

The main Tallis theme is heard in full three times throughout the work. When the orchestra is not stating the full theme, the piece grows and develops out of smaller thematic motifs. A second melody based on English folk music creates contrast and adds depth to the piece. Together, these two themes paint a masterpiece of Renaissance and English worlds.

Here are some things to listen for as you watch the video:

• The piece opens with hints at all of the major themes that will play out in the music
• At 0:35 the first pluckings of the Tallis theme come through (followed immediately by a statement of the second theme)
• A call-and-response type of imitation between the various orchestras (listen to 4:11-6:18 for an example of this)
• A sweeping motion of the harmonies and a continually changing texture
• At 6:16 a solo viola interjects with a new variation on one of the themes explored earlier in the piece (the theme at 2:02)
  • After being passed around the string quartet and the other orchestras, this theme builds into the climax of the piece (around 11 minutes in)

I hope you enjoyed listening to Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis.