Everything about Spem In Alium totally explained
Spem in alium is a forty-part
motet by
Thomas Tallis, composed circa 1570 for eight choirs of five voices each. Though composed in imitative style and occasionally
homophonic, its individual vocal lines act quite freely within its fairly simple harmonic framework; allowing for an astonishing number of individual musical ideas to be sung during its ten-to-twelve minute performance time.
History
The early history of the work is obscure. It is listed in a catalogue of the library at
Nonsuch Palace made in 1596 as "a song of fortie partes, made by Mr. Tallys." The earliest surviving manuscripts are those prepared in 1610 for the investiture of
Henry Frederick, the son of
James I, as
Prince of Wales.
A 1611 letter written by the law student Thomas Wateridge contains the following anecdote:
In Queene Elizabeths time there was a songe sent into England of 30 parts (whence the Italians obteyned the name to be called the Apices of the world) which beeinge songe mad[e] a heavenly Harmony. The Duke of — bearing a great love to Musicke asked whether none of our English men could sett as good a songe, & Tallice beinge very skillfull was felt to try whether he'd undertake the Matter, which he did and mad[e] one of 40 p[ar]ts which was songe in the longe gallery at Arundell house which so farre surpassed the other th[a]t the Duke hearinge of the songe tooke his chayne of gold from of his necke & putt yt about Tallice his necke & gave yt him.
Allowing the "30" to be a mistake, the Italian song referred to is either the 40-part motet
Ecce beatam lucem or the 40-60 voice mass
Missa sopra Ecco sì beato giorno, both by
Alessandro Striggio, who is known to have visited London in June 1567 after a trip through Europe during which he arranged other performances of
Missa sopra Ecco sì beato giorno.
This account is consistent with the catalogue entry at
Nonsuch Palace:
Arundel House was the London home of
Henry FitzAlan, 19th Earl of Arundel; Nonsuch Palace was his country residence. Nonsuch possessed an octagonal banqueting hall, which in turn had four first-floor balconies: it can be speculated that Tallis designed the music to be sung not only in the round, but with four of the eight five-part choirs singing from the balconies.
The Duke of the letter is thought to be
Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, and if so (and if the anecdote is trustworthy) the Duke's execution in 1572 gives a latest date for the composition of the work. Other historians, doubting the anecdote, have suggested that the first performance was on the occasion of
Elizabeth's fortieth birthday in 1573. Other dates have been suggested, including the possibility that it was composed years earlier for
Mary Tudor, Elizabeth's predecessor.
Qualities
The work is a study in contrasts: the individual voices sing and are silent in turns, sometimes alone, sometimes in choirs, sometimes calling and answering, sometimes all together, so that, far from being a monotonous mess, the work is continually presenting new ideas to the listener.
The effect on the listener of the sheer number of ideas contained in the work, compounded with the unusual performance practice of surrounding the audience with performers, is that of inundation, or of being completely overwhelmed.
The work isn't often performed, as it requires at least forty singers capable of meeting its technical demands.
Lyrics
Latin
The original
Latin text of the motet is from a response (at Matins, for the 3rd Lesson, during the V week of September), in the
Sarum Rite, adapted from the
Book of Judith.
» Spem in alium numquam habui praeter in te
Deus Israel
» qui irasceris
et propitius eris
» et omnia peccata hominum in tribulatione dimittis
Domine Deus
» Creator coeli et terrae
respice humilitatem nostram
There is no early manuscript source giving the underlay for the Latin text: the 1610 copies give the underlay for the English
contrafactum "Sing and glorify" (see below), with the Latin words given at the bottom.
English translation
» I've never put my hope in any other but in you,
O God of Israel
» who can show both anger
and graciousness,
» and who absolves all the sins of suffering man
Lord God,
» Creator of Heaven and Earth
be mindful of our humiliation
English contrafactum
Sung at the 1610 investiture of
Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales.
» Sing and glorify heaven's high Majesty,
Author of this blessed harmony;
» Sound divine praises
With melodious graces;
» This is the day, holy day, happy day,
For ever give it greeting,
» Love and joy, heart and voice meeting:
Live Henry princely and mighty,
» Harry live in thy creation happy.
Renditions
One of the best-known recordings of the motet is by the
Tallis Scholars. Other recordings include those by the Choir of
Winchester Cathedral; the Oxford Camerata; the Choirs of
King's and
St John's Colleges, Cambridge;
The Sixteen; Cantillation; and, most recently (2006), by the British male
a capella group, the
King's Singers. This recording is particularly noteworthy, since the group is composed of just six men: all forty parts are performed by these six via
multitracking. The
Kronos Quartet has also recorded an instrumental version of the motet on their album,
Black Angels. Cellist Peter Gregson has also multitracked
Spem in Alium, performing all 40 parts on one cello.
Another version of this motet is featured in
Janet Cardiff's
Forty-Part Motet (2001), an exhibition which is part of the permanent collection of the
National Gallery of Canada in
Ottawa,
Ontario,
Canada.
The exhibit is set in the
Rideau Street Chapel, which is the salvaged interior of a demolished school chapel that's now in permanent display at the National Gallery. Forty speakers are set around the Chapel, each one featuring a single voice of the forty-part choir. The result is a highly-enhanced
polyphonic effect, as visitors may hear each individual voice through its corresponding speaker, or listen to the voices of the entire choir blending in together with varying intensities, as one moves around the Chapel. Previously it toured the world, including in early 2006 at the
Museum of Modern Art in
New York City, where it was a temporary installation in one of the contemporary rooms.
On
10 June 2006, the
BBC asked for 1,000 singers to meet, rehearse and perform the piece in the
Bridgewater Hall,
Manchester for what was almost certainly the largest performance of the piece in history. On that day, over 700 singers attended, most of whom had never sung the piece before. A program following the day's events was broadcast on
BBC Four on
December 9, 2006.
The piece featured prominently in the Poliakoff drama,
Gideon's Daughter.
Spem in alium accompanies the film
Touching the Void, and reaches a climax when Yates and Simpson reach the summit of the mountain.
Tallis'
Spem in alium has also inspired several modern composers to write 40-part choral works, for example
Giles Swayne's
The Silent Land (1998),
Jaakko Mäntyjärvi's
Tentatio (2006) and Peter McGarr's
Love You Big as the Sky (2007). A London-based choral festival, the
Tallis Festival, inspired by
Spem in alium, commissioned both Mäntyjärvi and McGarr to compose in this genre.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Spem In Alium'.
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