The Harrowing of Hell is a gripping story wherein the soul of the deceased Christ, on the original Holy Saturday, descends into a Limbo controlled by Satan to release the prophets, patriarchs, and other righteous souls who were long awaiting redemption, sending the rest, with the devil, to the very depths of Hell. It has literary origins that reach possibly as far back as the second century and it remains a crucial part of the Eastern Orthodox faith. Over the years, the story has been told and retold many times in sacred and secular contexts and was especially prevalent in the Renaissance era.

Tallis and Byrd use their music and carefully selected texts to turn the Harrowing story into an epic struggle of good and evil, as part of an ongoing narrative that champions the Catholic cause. In true dramatic fashion, they begin their story amorphously, with prayers only the most attuned would know to be those of hopeful captives in Limbo's darkness.

The arrival of Christ in the Underworld is prefigured by an anticipatory moment of light, and by the time the story builds to a climax the thrice-evoked theme of illumination becomes pronounced. As the story develops, Tallis and Byrd invoke the Eucharist and Holy City as a means of identifying the righteous nation as Catholic before the hero appears to save the worthy. Then Christ descends into Hell, defeats his foe, crushes the notorious gates of the Underworld, and triumphantly releases the righteous who prophesied his arrival. Finally, after a celebratory hymn extolling sacred power and light, Tallis and Byrd end this chapter of the Holy Week story with something of a “choral” response, conveying a critical warning for those who might choose the wrong path and fail to address their faults before the time of their own judgment (see Table 2).

Although controversial, the Harrowing legend was one many knew at the time, thanks not only to its intrinsically dramatic nature and all the controversy surrounding it, but also to the popularity of its main source, the Evangelium Nicodemi; its many portrayals in visual, theatrical, and literary arts; and its featured place in the Latin liturgy (see figs. 2.2 and fig. 5.1–3). In England, the Harrowing story thrived in the post-Reformation era because of the way Queen Elizabeth embraced it.