Faith in Music
BBC Radio 4

The half-hour devoted to Thomas Tallis, the first of the composers appraised by Sir James MacMillan in this four-part series (7-28 December) made its subject sound like a very sharp operator. Born in the reign of Henry VII, before religious belief had turned controversial, Tallis (c.1505-1585) produced choral music for four separate monarchs, changing his technique to suit the tenor – no pun intended – of the times and managing to survive into old age when a host of less circumspect men had gone to the stake.

As to how this professional switchback ride worked in practice, MacMillan – himself Britain’s leading contemporary Catholic composer – and his expert talking heads offered a fascinating dissection of contending musical styles – the lush, “confident” Latin chants of “Gaude gloriosa” from the reign of Henry VIII giving way to plainer Anglicised compositions written to placate the religious advisers of his Protestant son, Edward VI.