Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis

Ralph Vaughan Williams composed the Tallis Fantasia in 1910. Though at 39, he was already an experienced composer with a boatload of harmonic vocabulary and scholarly research in his toolbox, he was relatively young – he had another 40+ years of composing ahead of him. I find this truly astonishing given our perception of a mature Vaughan Williams – his best-known work was conceived only a third of the way through his total compositional career.

Instrumentation:

• Trumpet 1 in E♭
• Piccolo Trumpet 2 in B♭
• Trumpet 3 in B♭
• Flugelhorn
• 2 Trombones
• Bass Trombone
• Euphonium
• Tuba
• Optional Percussion

This arrangement is part of our Boulder Brass Signature Series.