Tallis: Spem in alium 40-part motet
Saturday 17th June 2017 at 7.30pm
The Church of St Mary and St Giles, Stony Stratford, Milton Keynes MK11 1BD
The Singers joined the Open University Choir, conducted by Bill Strang, and local choirs Quorum and Polymnia to perform the 40 part motet by Thomas Tallis.
An MK50 event demonstrating the vitality of choral singing in Milton Keynes the Open University Choir presented a concert built around the 40-part motet Spem in alium by Thomas Tallis, which has been called the crowning glory of English Renaissance music. Probably composed in the 1570s, this is an exceptional piece for eight 5-part choirs so arranged as to create spacial as well as textural effects.
For this tour de force of choral complexity and compositional ingenuity, the Open University Choir were joined by the Linsdale Singers, Polymnia (directed by John Byron) and Quorum (directed by Chris Williams), making a total of some 120 performers. The programme also included the Magnificat in 12 parts (3 choirs) by Tallis’s Venetian contemporary, Andrea Gabrieli, a choice which exploited the architecture as well as the favourable acoustic of St Mary and St Giles church. Other pieces in the programme were sung by the individual choirs and included the pre-Reformation motet Dum transisset Sabbatum by John Taverner, Tallis’s exquisite anthem for the Reformed rite, ‘If ye love me’, William Byrd’s Ave verum Corpus, and movements from Palestrina’s Missa Aeterna Christi munera (the Linsdale Singers contribution). Linsdale’s regular organist Paul Daggett contributed complementary solos including ‘The Carman’s Whistle’ by William Byrd and ‘Master Tallis’s Testament’ by Herbert Howells.
The church was absolutely full on a sweltering hot day and at the end after the second performance of the 40-part motet there was a standing ovation from the very appreciative audience. The Linsdale Singers were delighted to have been invited to join in this spectacular concert.
Tickets were £12 for adults with children under 16 free.
Church location map • Concert poster • List of music • Music for All @SMSG • Church website