Spem in Alium

[DracoM]

Can anyone explain why 'Spem' has achieved such ubiquity eg on record etc, when in that age a whole raft of 40+ voice pieces were written and these days far more rarely heard? eg Okeghem Deo Gratias etc.

[rauschwerk]

Can anyone explain why 'Spem' has achieved such ubiquity eg on record etc, when in that age a whole raft of 40+ voice pieces were written and these days far more rarely heard? eg Okeghem Deo Gratias etc.

Always been a mystery to me!

[edashtav]

Best of British?

[cat]

Sometimes pieces just have the good fortune of being widely sung first (in modern times), and so others don't get much of a look in, e.g. Tomkins' Fourth, Weelkes' Ninth etc.

[cloughie]

I always think of it as ‘hope in onion’ .

[BasilHarwood]

Can anyone explain why 'Spem' has achieved such ubiquity eg on record etc, when in that age a whole raft of 40+ voice pieces were written and these days far more rarely heard? eg Okeghem Deo Gratias etc.

A lot of the large scale works - Striggio’s Ecce beatam lucem (mass and motet), the Ockeghem Deo Gratias (incidentally attributed to Ockeghem) are not particularly great pieces to sing or listen to. The Tallis may be a little better to perform but they are all just a few monumental shifting chords...

You should listen to the new Macmillan 40-part Vidi Aquam, that’s pretty fresh. Or Alec Roth’s Earth Rise, equally exciting.

[DracoM]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bYGmISF3ME

Ahem.................is 'not a great piece to listen to'....???? Really?
IYO, I suggest. In a big space, this would be stunning!

Or this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzBhYMvnMKQ

[BasilHarwood]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bYGmISF3ME

Ahem.................is 'not a great piece to listen to'....???? Really?
IYO, I suggest. In a big space, this would be stunning!

Or this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzBhYMvnMKQ

I know the piece. I’m just not a fan!

[Bryn]

I know the piece. I’m just not a fan!

But you appear to be of Vidi Aquam. Ah well, there's no telling regarding musical taste. Re Striggio's Ecce beatam lucem, was it not in response to that work that Tallis set about showing how a 40 part motet might be done rather better?

[BasilHarwood]

But you appear to be of Vidi Aquam. Ah well, there's no telling regarding musical taste. Re Striggio's Ecce beatam lucem, was it not in response to that work that Tallis set about showing how a 40 part motet might be done rather better?

No there ain’t. And yep I like Vidi Aquam. I also like:

Most things by Byrd
Stanford in C (evening)
Rose Responses (SATB not ATB)
That nice Howells chant in flats
Elgar Symphony No 1
Leighton (Cricifixus pro nobis is a banger)
Jamiroquai
Steely Dan
Stormzy
The Game

[oddoneout]

I always think of it as ‘hope in onion’ .

Spam in garlic.

[Old Grumpy]

Spam in garlic.

The queen's favourite for a picnic!

[Bryn]

No there ain’t. And yep I like Vidi Aquam. I also like:

Most things by Byrd
Stanford in C (evening)
Rose Responses (SATB not ATB)
That nice Howells chant in flats
Elgar Symphony No 1
Leighton (Cricifixus pro nobis is a banger)
Jamiroquai
Steely Dan
Stormzy
The Game

Well, we can agree concerning Byrd, and Elgar's 1st (his finest work, to my mind).

[BasilHarwood]

Well, we can agree concerning Byrd, and Elgar's 1st (his finest work, to my mind).

LOVE that symphony.

[Chris Watson]

Here's a new version of Spem that was put together in Australia. I've always loved the piece, btw, as a listener, singer and conductor, my first experience of it being in Merton Oxford as very young chap, listening to my Dad and 39 others record it for David Wulstan. We commissioned quite a few new 40 part motets when I was in the Tallis Scholars, with varying degrees of success. My favourite of the new ones is Gabriel Jackson's, I think, (not a TTS commission) and David Bednall wrote a damn good one too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfD0g1CyDiE