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The Tallis Scholars have become one of the leading a cappella choral groups in the world, specializing in Renaissance sacred music. The group was founded in 1973 by choral conductor Peter Phillips who, coincidentally, bears the name of a noted English Renaissance composer (1560-1628). The aim was to create an ensemble that, through purity of intonation and impeccable balance, would reveal the beauty of the complex polyphonic textures of Renaissance music. The group takes its name from Thomas Tallis (c. 1505-1585), a leading English composer of the Renaissance era, famous in particular for one of the most elaborate of all a cappella compositions, Spem in Alium, which is written for eight five-part choirs. The Tallis Scholars quickly came to be popular on the busy English early music scene. In 1981 Phillips and Steven C. Smith co-founded a record label, Gimell Records, specifically to record the Tallis Scholars. The label is now one of the Philips labels, a part of the Polygram Group. ...