Please turn your hymnals to number 21 and join with the clarinets in “All Praise to Thee” aka “Tallis’ Canon”.
Name: TALLIS’ CANON.
Meter: L.M.
Tempo: With dignity
Music: Thomas Tallis, cir 1505-85
Text: Latin Hymns of XI cent.
German Hymn of XIV Cent.
Martin Luther, 1483-1546
Tr. Anonymous, 1858
I got a little obsessed with the arrangement of Tallis’ Canon and ended up with a fairly complex thing. Basically, the Canon is running against itself at two speeds. (I was really tempted to run another melody at 2x the faster speed, but that would be bebop.)
First I did the round with 4 beats per half note in two parts at a very slow tempo, basically half note equals 40 bpm, and recorded all the parts on bass clarinet.
Then I added the same parts, but with 4 beats per half note. In the end, the score ended up being for 7 bass clarinets and 3 soprano clarinets.
021.ServiceBookAndHymnal.canon
Here’s the translation of Luther’s text:
All praise to thee, Eternal Lord,
Clothed in a garb of flesh and blood;
Choosing a manger for thy throne,
While worlds on worlds are thine alone.Once did the skies before thee bow,
A Virgin’s arms contain thee now;
Angels who did in thee rejoice,
Now listen for thine infant voice.A little child, thou art our guest,
That weary ones in thee may rest;
Forlorn and lowly is thy birth,
That we may rise to heaven from earth.Thou comest in the darksome night,
To make us children of the light,
To make us in the realms divine,
Like thine own angels, ’round thee shine.All this for us thy love hath done,
By this to thee our love is won,
For this we tune our cheerful lays,
And shout our thanks in ceaseless praise.
