Tallis's epitaph revisited. (8th March 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: McCarthy, Kerry
• Is Part Of: Early music. Volume 47:Number 1(2019)
• Page Start: 57
• Page End: 64
• Publication Date: 2019-03-08
• Subjects: Thomas Tallis -- Paget -- London -- Greenwich -- epitaph -- Catholic -- recusant -- poetry -- William Byrd; Music -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; 780.9
• DOI: 10.1093/em/cay080
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0306-1078

Abstract

Abstract: Thomas Tallis's gravestone has been lost, but its rhymed epitaph is well known from a transcription in John Strype's 1720 edition of the Survey of London . An earlier, longer and demonstrably more accurate version of Tallis's epitaph, dated December 1585 (the month after the composer's death), can be found in the poetic miscellany Cambridge University Library Ms.d d.5.75. The epitaph was almost certainly written by Henry Stanford, the scribe ofd d.5.75, who at the time was tutor to the Paget household, a hotbed of Catholic sympathies and a musical centre where 'songes of Mr Byrdes and Mr Tallys' were sung. This new source offers a glimpse into the complex social and political realities of Tallis's last years.