Ralph Vaughan Williams - Tallis Fantasia

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MY FAVORITE PIECE OF MUSIC
- 'Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis'
by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)

By Christopher M. Wright
© 2004 Christopher M. Wright
All Rights Reserved

This is the only piece of music that ever made me pull off the road, stop the car, and listen. It is that powerful. Composer Ralph ('raif') Vaughan Williams drew inspiration from English folk music and the polyphony of the Elizabethan and Jacobean ages. The Tallis theme dates from 1576 and the 'Fantasia' was composed in 1910 at a time of renewed interest in Elizabethan composers.

Tallis wrote his theme for religious purposes. However, Vaughan Williams, who had previously written a hymn based on the theme, was apparently an agnostic - a 'tradition-loving humanist without a faith' - who nonetheless drew inspiration from religious music.

Form - In use in the 16th century, the 'fantasia' form announces a theme and develops it, then takes up a related theme instead of repeating the original theme in a new key as in a fugue. Vaughan Williams did not follow the fantasia form strictly but did derive new themes from the original and arranged his new material in sections.

Modes - The 'Fantasia' also hearkens back to an earlier time because it is modal. The church modes were developed before the major and minor keys we take for granted today. Tallis wrote his theme in the Phrygian mode - the equivalent of playing successive white keys on a piano starting on E, resulting in flat second, third, sixth, and seventh scale degrees. The 'Fantasia' employs the flat-seven scale degree common to both Elizabethan compositions and English folk songs.

Score

False Relation - In regular tonal music, chords are built on scale degrees. In the key of C major, for example, the chord on the first scale degree is C-major, consisting of C-E-G. The chord on the second degree is D-minor (D-F-A). The chords are related because they are built on degrees of the same scale. If you follow a C-major chord with D-major and E flat-major chords (as occurs in the 'Fantasia') instead of the expected minor chords, the result is called 'false relation'. The chords are 'falsely related' because they are not in the same key or built on the same scale tones. The D-major uses F-sharp instead of F-natural and the E-flat major uses E-flat and B-flat instead of E and B as ordinarily would be used in the key of C-major. The "Fantasia' is far from atonal but the use of false relation and modally induced accidentals inject a degree of tonal rootlessness and keep the piece harmonically interesting.

Dissonance - There are places in the 'Fantasia' where the voices don't agree, where major and minor thirds sound in close proximity, or the lower parts cadence in major-minor tonality using the sharp-7 while phrases above pass through the flat-7. Some theorists consider such disagreements to be fundamental error, but they work beautifully in the 'Fantasia'. Vaughan Williams obtained a different effect - always smooth, never jarring - by letting individual voices go where they wanted instead of making the voices agree a hundred percent of the time.

Polyphony - The piece opens in nine parts (voices) over five octaves. The forces soon divide and much of the piece proceeds by way of antiphony (question and answer) between string quartet, small string orchestra, and large string orchestra.

Atmospherics - The 'Fantasia' was written for strings only (violin, viola, cello, and bass). Thus the color palette is limited but the work remains sonically delicious because it was meant to be played in a cathedral where sound wafts up into the rafters and reverberates with haunting effect as in Gregorian chant. The high cathedral ceilings are an indispensable part of the orchestra. The 'Fantasia' would not sound the same or make the same impression in a concert hall.

Other - An examination of the score reveals many original touches. Consecutive parallel fifths (another supposed 'no-no') sound in the cello. Loud chords are followed by ethereal soft chords. Pizzicato (plucked) cellos and basses add percussive effect under high sustained violin tones. New phrases begin before old ones completely end. Tremolo accompaniments give a shimmering and wondrous feel to the melody. The meter changes frequently because Vaughan Williams was not writing in 'square' phrases of standard length. The fadeout at the end (from very loud to very soft) is distinctive.

The Definitive Recording - To my ears, Neville Marriner's 1972 recording with the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields is perfection itself . No other recording is the 'Fantasia' to me. I can't imagine anything better (although there was a digital remake some years later).

The rest of the album is great, too. It contains other popular orchestral works by Vaughan Williams - The Lark Ascending, Fantasia on Greensleeves, and Five Variants of 'Dives and Lazarus'.

Highly recommended

Score

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