Spem in alium

How big was the scale of polychoral music? The biggest was a mass by Alessandro Striggio for 5 choirs of 12, totaling 60 independent polyphonic lines. Lassus, Malvezzi, Rossetto, and others wrote 30-50 part pieces. But the best known is Tallis’ Spem in alium for 40 voices (8 choirs of 5).

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.^[1]

The early history of the work is obscure, although there are some clues as to where it may have been first performed. It is listed in a catalogue of the library at Nonsuch Palace, a royal palace that was sold in the 1550s to the Earl of Arundel, before returning to the crown in the 1590s. The listing, dating from 1596, describes it as "a song of fortie partes, made by Mr. Tallys". The earliest surviving manuscripts are those prepared in 1610 for the investiture as Prince of Wales of Henry Frederick, the son of James I.

A 1611 commonplace book written by the law student Thomas Wateridge contains the following anecdote:

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.

…read more on Wikipedia…

Polychoral Music

Enough about Gregorian chant and music in 2-8 parts, what about music on a much larger scale? This week Early Music Monday takes on polychoral music! First up, what exactly IS polychoral music? Here’s a quick description

When good composers do bad things...

How should we handle composers whose actions crossed moral/ethical lines?
Gesualdo murdered his wife, Gombert was a child molester, … the list goes on and on.
In my opinion, if the music is good, present it. BUT address these issues in spoken/written notes so the performances aren’t tacit approval of behavior.

Johann Michael Bach

Lassus wasn’t the only composer with a musical family. 7 generations of the Bach family kept the musical tradition going, including this gem by Johann Michael Bach, first cousin once removed (and father-in-law) of J.S. Bach.

Clemens: Ego flos campi

Sometimes it’s best to take a break from the research and just listen to a beautiful motet. There’s some fantastic backstory to Clemens non Papa’s “Ego flos campi”, but the music and text speak for themselves.

Lassus and his sons

Lassus was one of the most prolific and gifted Renaissance composers, but did you know his sons helped keep his works in print and were talented musicians in their own right?

This fantastic article has all the information: Orlande de Lassus and His Two Musical Sons

Widor: Symphonie Romane

Chant melodies inspired instrumental works as well as vocal. Check out the chant melody below (the “Haec dies” for Easter Day) and then listen to how Widor used it in his magnificent Symphonie Romane (performed in the very building for which it was written).

Leonin and Perotin

Many know the names Leonin and Perotin from music history and appreciation classes. Bud do you remember why they were important? Here’s an Early Music Monday in honor of Notre Dame polyphony.

Sacred Polyphony of Notre-Dame

Guillaume Dufay: Bridge between Medieval and Renaissance

Today! Music by Dufay (and Horwood and Wylkynson) at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum with Vox Vocal Ensemble! Want to read more about Dufay?

Vruechten - Sacred or Secular?

An Early Music Monday post for Easter Monday - have you ever noticed how many of the songs used in religious liturgies have Renaissance or Baroque origins? Or aren’t actually sacred at all? This is one of those, and my personal favorite of all the hymns for Easter.

1 This joyful Eastertide, away with sin and sorrow! My Love, the Crucified, has sprung to life this morrow: Refrain: Had Christ, who once was slain, not burst His three-day prison, our faith had been in vain; but now has Christ arisen, arisen, arisen; but now has Christ arisen! 2 Death’s flood has lost its chill since Jesus crossed the river; Lover of souls, from ill my passing soul deliver: [Refrain] 3 My flesh in hope shall rest and for a season slumber till trump from east to west shall wake the dead in number: [Refrain]

From Mark Dwyer, Organist and Choirmaster:

VRUECHTEN is originally a seventeenth-century Dutch folk tune for the love song "De liefde Voortgebracht." It became a hymn tune in Joachim Oudaen's David's Psalmen (1685) as a setting for "Hoe groot de vruechten zijn." The tune is distinguished by the rising sequences in the refrain, which provide a fitting word painting for "arisen." Sung with athletic enthusiasm by the congregation of The Church of the Advent, the organist provides an improvisation as the altar is censed at the Offertory of the First Mass of Easter.