Heinrich Isaac - Tota pulchra es. Tallis Scholars

Heinrich Isaac's sacred motet for 4 voices SATB 'Tota pulchra es, amica mea.
Tallis Scholars directed by Peter Phillips singing a cappella.
Also performed by the Hilliard Ensemble - • Video
Song of Solomon 4:7,11; 2:11--13; 4:8.
Tota pulchra es, amica mea, et macula non est in te;
favus distillans labia tua; mel et lac sub lingua tua;
odor unguentorum tuorum super omnia aromata:
jam enim hiems transiit, imber abiit et recessit.
- - -
You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.
Your lips distil nectar; honey and milk are under your tongue;
the scent of your perfumes is beyond all spices.
For now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.
= = = =
Flores apparuerunt; vineae florentes odorem dederunt,
et vox turturis audita est in terra nostra:
surge, propera, amica mea: veni de Libano, veni, coronaberis
- - -
The flowers have appeared; the flowering vines have given forth their fragrance,
and the voice of the turtle-dove is heard in our land.
Arise, my love, my fair one; come from Lebanon, come, you will be crowned.

[@donaldpreddle]

Many thanks - this is as perfect as everything the Tallis Scholars do. Much more satisfyingly melancholy to my ears than the text can possibly intend. But what do I know. Just that it makes me everlastingly grateful to have come across it.

[@altareggo]

THANK YOU for this: its the first time i have heard it. The Tallis Scholars are like early music gods....everything they do is as close to perfection as possible!! You have brought happiness into my life by posting this on KZbin.

[@jonasstary5895]

It´s so beautiful... I love this gorgeous music.

[@aryanalijah3502]

@Sam London yup, I've been using Instaflixxer for years myself =)

[@davidbritton6948]

This is new to me also. Early adventurous harmonies.Very nice.

[@polomokipo6000]

HEINRICH ISAAC { Pays-Bas bourguignons 1450-1517 } - TOTA PULCHRA ES.TALLIS SCHOLARS -PETER PHILLIPS. Une merveille voix vocales grandiose bravo. ISAAC compositeur germano-flamand de 1480 à 1494 est à la cour des Médicis à Florence.Il a été engagé par l'empereur Maximilien 1er. Compositeur prolifique, il est l'auteur de nombreuses œuvres polyphoniques à caractère profane ou religieux, parmi lesquelles la chanson INNSBRUCK, ICH MUSS DICH CASSEN. Merci pour ce chef-d'oeuvre de ISAAC qui est Eternel sublime.

[@shaughnfourie304]

BEAUTIFUL

[@leonhrad]

8:15 the sopran is singing fsharp

[@claudiasina97]

Leo S I think he/she is adding musica ficta. It was quite common then to not write that down.:)

[@jsleith]

Yep. At cadences it was expected that performers would make leading-tone inflections without them being explicitly notated. There are some other places in the piece where performers of the day would probably have made such inflections, such as 1:10, where the 3rd line's half-note G on "-stil-" would have been sung G#, or 1:33, where the 1st line's half-note F on "...-u-" would have been sung F#.

[@Akitrom]

@@jsleith Thank you. I learned something new today.

[@redlogmusk1253]

Slow motion version... nicely sung, nice sound, but the poetry is not there unfortunately....