Thomas Tallis - Spem in Alium [Score]

Performed by the The Tallis Scholars
Note that this performance + score is a whole step higher than the original
Spem in alium (Latin for "Hope in any other") is a 40-part Renaissance motet by Thomas Tallis, composed in c. 1570 for eight choirs of five voices each. It is considered by some critics to be the greatest piece of English early music. H. B. Collins described it in 1929 as Tallis's "crowning achievement", along with his Lamentations.
Text:
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 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 lowliness.)

[@cybergoth2002]

good performance

[@TenorCantusFirmus]

Dante, which lived in the early 14th Century, said in his "Divine Comedy" in the Paradise he heard such beautiful music no words could have ever described it.
I think he was getting a preview on Renaissance music, which for me is the absolute peak. I can't but imagine music like this being sung all the time in the Heavens.

[@maxgregorycompositions6216]

Well, lore-accurate Heaven's music couldn't be replicated on Earth by any composer. Even Wagner and Liszt, in the 19th century, both admitted to that after having a go (Parsifal and the Dante Symphony). Spem does have a very good go at replicating the music one may hear in Biblical Heaven.

[@steveegallo3384]

Celestial-beatific.....BRAVO from Acapulco!

[@SerafinDrake]

I'm reading the score and marveling at how much work went into this composition.
I heard about a pick-up choir that decided to tackle "Spem in Alium." Either the story was apocryphal, or the choir was very brave, or consisted of musical geniuses.

[@robt2778]

Actually I've sung this piece twice and one of those occasions was an ad hoc performance at Liverpool's Metropolitan (Catholic) Cathedral. The choir were doing a hymn/ sacred music marathon to raise money: if you donated you could choose the music. Someone offered a substantial amount for Spem in alium, which was not on the list, but it was a lot of money, so they decided they'd give it a go from scratch. There were insufficient singers in the choir to cover all 40 parts, one of the assistants organists remembered me mentioning that I'd sung the piece at music college and I was contacted and asked if I could participate. I had 40 minutes to get to the cathedral, quick look over my part ( bass, first choir) then sight singing all the way - a fantastic experience ( though to be fair the wall of sound is such that any small errors would go unnoticed)

[@SerafinDrake]

@@robt2778 - If I knew how to make a jawdrop emoticon on RUclips, I'd reply with it...

[@calleres]

Amazing.

[@fsquare6305]

groovy, ngl i like it

[@ninoshkalopeztorres6929]

Un verdadero canto angelical

[@robt2778]

Non angeli sed Angli - to slightly misquote Gregory the Great

[@teresasobczyszyn9589]

Piękne 👍

[@johnmillholland6550]

The Avengers of choral music

[@RockStarOscarStern634]

Quite lush

[@soutteruk1]

Quite!

[@adude9882]

So much that came after seems crude in comparison.

[@hammer_time_kim]

Hello, I am a student who wants to study classical music.
Can I get the sheet music in this video as a PDF file??

[@Maddenhawk]

It's available here on IMSLP: imslp.org/wiki/Spem_in_alium_nunquam_habui_(Tallis%2C_Thomas)