Thomas Tallis

Tallis was one of the major English composers of the first Elizabethan era. The following score can be enjoyed whether or not you have any ability to read music at all! Its size alone makes it interesting to look at, let alone hear; it is arguably the most celebrated work Tallis wrote, the motet in forty parts Spem in alium nunquam habui.

It was probably commissioned in 1571 by Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, and Henry Fitzalan, 12th Duke of Arundel; the latter had a country house (the palace of Nonsuch, now demolished) with an octagonal banquetting hall which would ideally accomodate Tallis’ eight choirs, each of five voices, which would have been spread out around the perimeter of the hall.

As the piece begins, the first 20 parts enter one after the other, each beginning with a similar sounding theme, in a gradually thickening texture which as well as growing audibly, extends visibly further and further down the page. As those 20 voices finish their first theme, the remaining 20 respond with a different figure, again with the voices following one after the other. When the last of these 20 voices has entered, Tallis displays a subtle sense of humour – having reached the fortieth bar, he brings in the full choir of 40 voices.

I can fairly guarantee that the sound from your computer’s sound card will break up a bit when playing the full 40 parts – even computers have trouble with the extent of Tallis’ polyphony. It is best if you have the screen at a resolution of 1024 by 768, then hide your web browser’s toolbars and scroll the window up to be able to see all forty parts at once.

I have published a “new” edition of Spem in alium on the Choral Public Domain Library, using as a starting point the version printed in Tudor Church Music, volume 6. The text underlay in TCM – and later editions based on it – was completely speculative, so I have made a new underlay for my edition.