The High Renaissance is well known for its cultural giants.
Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and above all Michelangelo epitomize
a period when the human spirit seemed to grow and gain in
confidence. There is no more visible proof of this than
Michelangelo's seventeen-foot-tall statue of David, more than
twice the height of any major piece of sculpture before it. And
Italy was not the only country which suddenly seemed to be
populated by more-than-life-size men of genius, Shakespeare and
Cervantes among them. This collection is designed to illustrate
the musical side of this astonishing period in European history,
from England via Flanders and Spain to Rome. Music and musicians
can bestride their world in one of two ways. They can either
write a masterpiece which is in itself colossal; or they can
write so many great works that they slowly change the
countryside around them. Thomas Tallis did both. By writing
music of the highest quality in every style of the period for
nearly sixty years he influenced everybody w