| The music of Thomas Tanis has such enduring artistic merit that his Third Metrical Psalter, published in 1567, is used by two prominent composers of the twentieth century. Ralph Vaughan Williams, with his Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, and Fisher Tull, with his Sketches on a Tudor Psalm, both use Tallis's source material, though in quite different ways.;The purpose of this study is to compare and contrast the composition and orchestration styles of Ralph Vaughan Williams and Fisher Tull in their use of Thomas Tallis's source material for the Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis and Sketches on a Tudor Psalm, respectively. This analysis provides the basis for an approach, through the examination of the orchestration of both works and the formal treatment of the source material of Tallis, to bring a new work of Vaughan Williams to the medium of wind ensemble. Vaughan Williams's contributions for winds include English Folk Song Suite, Sea Songs, Toccata Marziale, and Flourish for Wind Band. Though Vaughan Williams has written these, and many other, works specifically for winds and percussion, the addition of Fantasia On a Theme by Thomas Tallis to the wind ensemble repertoire would bring this string orchestra work to a new group of musicians. |
