Monday 16 July 2012

Tallis Top of the Pops !

The Tallis Scholars' recording of Thomas Tallis's magnificent Spem in alium, for 40 unaccompanied voices, has today reached Number 1 on the UK's Official Classical Singles Chart, ending a 3 week run at the top of the chart for Luciano Pavarotti.

According to The Official Charts Company's sales data, the past two years have seen a surge in individual classical track download sales in the UK - up 46% in 2011 on 2010 (from 834,000 to 1.2 million). This trend has continued in 2012, and in the first quarter of this year, some 284,000 classical downloads were sold, a 34% increase on the 212,000 sold in the first three months of 2011.

The Official Charts Company's managing director, Martin Talbot, said: "It's fantastic to see Peter Phillips and The Tallis Scholars enjoying chart success off the back of the 50 Shades Of Grey publishing phenomenon, coming just months after the Military Wives became the first choir to top
the Official Singles Chart. It shows the changing ways in which classical fans are buying their music - track by track, as well as album by album."  No problem about changing the way classical music is bought. But OTOH I'm really scared that someone in his position should think Military Wives is the way ahead for classical music. Long live the Tallis Scholars!




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