Spem in alium

A motet by Thomas Tallis for 40 independent vocal parts, arranged in eight choirs of five voices. Composed around 1570, it is known for its large-scale spatial effects and intricate polyphony.

Polyphony: Music in which two or more independent melodic lines sound simultaneously. The motet’s forty parts weave independent melodies rather than forming a single melody with accompaniment.
Thomas Tallis: An English composer active during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I. Tallis composed the motet during a career spanning major religious changes in England.
Motet: A choral vocal composition, usually setting a sacred text and not intended as part of the Mass ordinary. Spem in alium is a large-scale example of this sacred choral genre.
Cori spezzati: A practice of placing separate choirs in distinct locations so they can sing in alternation or together. The motet’s eight choirs invite the spatially separated performance associated with this practice.
Forty-part counterpoint: A musical texture in which forty independent parts sound within a composition. This is the defining compositional scale of Spem in alium.
Imitation (music): A compositional technique in which one voice repeats a melodic idea introduced by another. Melodic entries pass between the eight choirs, making imitation audible on a monumental scale.
Elizabethan music: Music made in England during the reign of Elizabeth I, from 1558 to 1603. The motet belongs to the musical culture of Elizabeth I’s court and realm.
Latin sacred music: Christian music whose text is in Latin and whose subject or function is religious. The motet sets a Latin prayer drawn from the biblical Book of Judith.
A cappella: Vocal music performed without instrumental accompaniment. The work is commonly performed by voices alone, allowing the vocal parts to define its sound.
The Tallis Scholars: A British professional vocal ensemble founded by Peter Phillips in 1973. The ensemble has performed and recorded Renaissance polyphony including Tallis’s motet.

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