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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Thomas Tallis
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(c.1505–85) Composer and organist who was a leading member of the court musical establishment under four monarchs, from *Henry VIII to *Elizabeth I. He was the teacher of *Byrd; from 1572 they shared the post of organist at the Chapel Royal, and in 1575 Elizabeth gave them a joint monopoly to publish music. Their Cantiones Sacrae of that year is a shared collection of their motets. Tallis's main output was sacred music, often of extraordinary contrapuntal complexity – most notably in Spem in alium for 8 choirs of 5 voices, all 40 singers having individual parts. His name is best known now to a wide public through Vaughan Williams' *Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis.
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