Description

This is an arrangement for Brass Septet of the original melody by the English composer, Thomas Tallis (c. 1505 – 1585). It is suitable for school and amateur ensemble performance, including at KS4 / GCSE, where it could be used as an Ensemble submission if the relevant rules in “doubling” are observed. it is scored for 2 Trumpets, Horns in F and Eb, Euphonium, Trombone and Tuba. Another English composer, Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 – 1958), used it when he edited the English Hymnal as well as in his famous “Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis, and it featured in the film “Master and Commander: the far Side of the World.”

It is slightly unusual in having a changing time signature, notably 4/4 and 6/4.