Polychoir and Instruments: Thinking BIGGER
A Renaissance Choral Epic
Spem in alium nunquam habui
Praeter in te, Deus Israel,
Qui irasceris, et propitius eris,
Et omnia peccata hominum
In tribulatione dimittis.
Domine Deus, creator caeli et terrae,
Respice humilitatem nostram.
I have never placed my hope
In any other than you, God of Israel,
Who can show both anger and graciousness
And absolve all the sins
of suffering man.
Lord God, creator of Heaven and Earth
Be mindful of our humiliation.
Spem in alium nunquam habui, motet (short musical setting of a sacred text) by Thomas Tallis, noted for its complex use of counterpoint in a composition for 40 voices.
It is a 10-minute panorama of shifting tone colours and a tour de force of Renaissance polyphony that is unsurpassed in the English repertoire.
The piece was likely composed in 1570 or 1571. According to some sources, the Earl of Arundel commissioned Tallis to write the piece to plead his innocence after he was suspected of being involved in Ridolfi Plot. The lyrics reflect this perfectly, as they are taken from a portion of the Bible where the Israelites beg God for mercy. To create Spem in alium nunquam habui, the composer organized his choristers into eight separate choirs, each containing five voice parts. Thus, Tallis’s score has 40 distinct vocal parts that were designed to fit together harmonically and must be kept in aural balance.
Spem in Alium: A DEEP Dive
For the Music Nerds among us
Modern Polychoir
For the most part, polychoral writing was not developed after Spem in Alium far beyond vast amounts of double-choir writing in the Baroque and Romantic Periods. However, an interesting Modern Polychoral offering is the Mass SIGNUM MAGNUM from Latvian composer Rihards Dubra, presented here by the State Choir Latvia!
This large mass is scored for the following musical force:
SSAATTBB Large Ensemble (32-60 Singers)
SATB Small Ensemble (16 Singers)
SATB Soloist Ensemble 1
SATB Soloist Ensemble 2
TTTBBB Soloist Ensemble 3