40 Parts for 40 Days: Stile Antico sings Spem in Alium
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- Опубліковано 29 сер 2024
- To mark forty days of lockdown in the UK, Stile Antico has created this socially-distanced recording of Thomas Tallis' legendary forty-part motet, Spem in alium, using smartphones and tablets. We hope its affirmative text and monumental musical confidence provide hope and strength in these troubled times.
Spring 2020 should have seen the group touring extensively in the UK, America and Japan. Instead, we do not know when we will be able to give concerts again. If you would like to support us through this uncertain period, then please consider joining the Friends of Stile Antico: www.stileantic...
If you prefer to support musicians more generally, then please consider making a donation to the wonderful Help Musicians, whose assistance has already been invaluable to many during the current pandemic: www.helpmusici...
I was introduced to this piece in the 1980s by a film editor at the BBC in London. I was stunned when I first heard it and I am stunned and moved now, 40 years on. If ever a piece had the ability to let you touch Heaven, this is surely it. Thank you Stile Antico and thank you Thomas Tallis.
I attended a wedding in London of a professional singer who rounded up 40 pros from her little black book. They sang this around the balcony in Bishopsgate. The most extraordinary sound live and, given our choral tradition, beautifully rendered; truly memorable.
Oh! This is fabulous! I love that you make it possible to actually see the structure of the piece as the various choirs form and join. This is a great use of technology as well as a superb demonstration of the beautiful singing one expects from this group.
Love the birds sailing randomly through the group!
Excellent. I have sung it in concert with three different choirs and it's scary every time. The video visualisation of the polyphony is very instructive.
This performance was outstanding. I knew that Stile Antico could not perform Stem in Alium with 28 voices shy of the
required forty. By God, Ben put it all together with 12 voices! Thank you very much indeed. It was interesting to note that
all of the female singers were animated in their respective "positions" as if it were an actual presentation. Emma took first-
place as she was the most animated of all the singers. You certainly made Tallis proud 450 years after its composition.
Yup - bravo. What is so interesting is to see which voice is singing at any one time. You get such a sense of the patchwork nature of it.
Yes -- the video production is really effective.
I agree Robert. As an amateur singer it's fascinating to see the amazing tapestry put together by the composer. Stile must have had great fun compiling their video.
Thanks, Robert!
Amazing and creating tears.
So beautifully synchronised..can't imagine how you did it!
Unsurprisingly magnificent! Wonderful singing and, aside from his wonderful Tenor voice, admiration for Ben Hymas's iT skills! We're spoilt for choice these days with several great a-Capella ensembles. Stile Antico however, for me, remain the gold standard.
Also very fond of The Gesualdo Six led by Owain Park ( own You Tube channel. )
This is the first time I have ever commented on a UA-cam video. Absolutely wonderful. Spem in alium is one of my all-time favourites and you have taken it to a completely different level - thank you so much.
God bless you all.
Stunning, sustaining, blissful. Thank you! Framing the musical mosaic in the glorious blue sky and bird song of this unique time was inspired.
Heartbreakingly beautiful. Separate together. With tears in my eyes, I thank you.
What a brilliant way of presenting it! Would have been useful in rehearsal, seeing it presented visually as well as aurally
beautiful and uplifting performance -- I can only imagine the amount of technical work that went into making this come together so smoothly, and the coming and going of the visuals was a magnificent complement to the wonderful singing.
Wonderful. I've sung in it a few times, and watched a performance, but this brings a new spatial clarity to the part-writing. Thank you!
What an beautiful, incredible version. Very moving - thank you all. Worth being in quarantine for...
Tallis is enjoying this from heaven.
Superb. In floods of tears!
Simply wonderful! one of the best versions I have heard.
Brilliant work. The tutti sections are powerful, and I had to go back and listen to that piercing overtone at 8:12 about seven times.
Absolutely lovely. Thank you!
Wonderful, and very emotional in these extraordinary times.
Andrew G has already hinted at the possibility of a follow up 'the making of...' video which, inspired by my phones attempt to autocomplete the title of the work I suggest might be entitled 'Ben on Valium' Bravo one and all.
Reminds me of a typo, many years ago in a newspaper's radio listings, where it was advertised as Spam in Allium, which I think means "Spam in garlic".
@@ftumschk
Mmmmm ...
I have never put my hope in any other
but in Thee, God of Israel, who canst show both wrath and graciousness, and who absolves all the sins of man in suffering. Lord God, Creator of Heaven and Earth, Regard our humility.
It brought tears to my eyes.
A 'fresh expression' of Spem in Alium - splendid!
This was amazing!! I've heard several versions of Spem in alium before, but I already know I'll be revisiting this a lot. The audio quality is amazingly good considering the recording equipment, and I really really love that you show each person the whole time they're singing. The visual helps illustrate the complex pattern of this composition, and also makes it so much easier to pick out one voice to follow. Thank you so much for this!
Beautiful. Thank you from Reykjavík
What a thrill. Thank you all.
Stunning. I would love to understand how it was produced and the workflow. That’s a lot of stitching together, I assume, as recording live in one session I think would not be possible due to uncontrollable latency. In any case, thank you.
Magic! A use of the technology which really enhances the experience of hearing this wonderful choir singing a superb work. Thank you and congratulations.
Thank you for such a beautiful performance
Lovely. So beautifully sung, produced and presented. An amazing achievement.
Very, very good staging. I was following it with the score until I realised what was happening then just watched. Thank you.
Just lovely. Well done. I love the doubling (or even tripling or quadrupling) up.
Well done, all of you.
What more can I add to all of the very positive comments so far?
A true representation of Choral Music at its best. Well done to all concerned.
I can only hope, once we all return to normality, that when you tour again, you might perform this again? St Mary's Church in Warwick, where I live & work, could be a suitable venue?
Thanks for this superb performance.
Thank you for this beautiful piece of work - I especially enjoyed seeng how voices are interwoven. Will Dawes, you are still missed by so many of us at Bath Choral.
Thanks for your message Colette! Do send my best wishes to everyone at BCS!
Wonderful, thank you! Tallis would have loved this, surely! :)
A fabulous feat, even without the challenges of technology! Looking forward to your future productions.
Absolutely wonderful. So professional, such beautiful tuning of chords. Listening to this on the same day as the UK blessing on UA-cam, what a fantastic God, and such a contrast of style with the UK blessing: proud to be British too! Thanks guys.
Terrific idea, beautifully sung, and capped by a really interesting production style that is truly instructive. Hats off to everyone for putting this together so brilliantly.
What a superb performance! Thank you Stile Antico.
love
Total respect for that amazing challenge!
Wow, what a triumph! Helps make up for not being able to see you at Beverley at the end of May...thank you!
Very sorry that we won't be there.
Absolutely wonderful!
Beautiful. Thank you from France
Wonderfully sung and wonderfully reproduced! Many thanks for a great treat.
Ann Winchester
Absolutely awesome video. The audio quality is fantastic, and I love the video production. I counted the bars excitedly towards the arrival of all 40 parts on bar 40!
Genius composition and beautiful performance. Thank you so much!
Out of interest, how was this produced - software, etc?
Totally FABULOUS! Thank you so much. And such a great visualisation of the score. Bravo!
This is astounding - need to ask JH how it was done when we next meet!..Well done all of you - absolutely stunning
performance
Glorious! Thank you.
This is brilliant, as ever. Well done Stile Antico.
Tremendous. The first time I have not got lost following the score. Great sound too. A bright spot in Lockdown.
Terrific! A wonderful marriage of art and technology. Thank you.
Sublime. Oh how I wish....
Thank you so much! It is wonderful and lovely to hear you!
Absolutely glorious. What a wonderful performance of this sublime work. Thank you so much for lifting our spirits. I hope to have the privilege of singing with you at Dartington again some day.
We're so sad that Dartington can't go ahead this year.
Of course we're hoping that you'll be there with us next year. Thank you so much for your inspiring concerts online...just marvellous.
This is quite a remarkable performance of a remarkable work. How did they manage to get this so seamless, timing was impeccable. In awe….
Wonderful - and so cleverly done!
this remains one of the best things EVER - will share it with my aural classes today. Thank you all !
Simply stunning. Not only is it pleasing to listen to, but the engineering behind this is amazing. Major goosebumps! Bravi tutti!
Sublime - thank you.
What a magical, compelling use of technology. The result is sublime. Bravi, tutti!
This is now one of my favorite things in the world ever
Wnderful! Thank you.
Sublime...thank you...
Superb singing - many thanks for sharing !
Grazie! Veramente emozionante ascoltare questa cattedrale di voci.
Bravo.
Fabulous work.. Thank you. Enchanting
Genial me encanto !
They are wonderful
Thank you! Marvelous - and the video is quite helpful.
And now I'm using your fantastic performance as a learning aid, because I'm learning Spem with the SIC Choir of the Earth and our course is being led by Nigel Short! I'm learning choir 4 and choir 8 soprano and it's such fun singing along with you!
Thank you!
Brilliant! I have been wanting to understand how Tallis organized the piece and here it is! Thank you!
Just found this - wonderful! Love the visuals as well as the music.
Wonderful!
One of my favourite, 5 stars, thank you!
stunningly beautiful. The very best.
Amazing!!!🎵😍
Bravissimo! Absolutely exquisite, I thoroughly enjoyed this and the video was perfect too. Congrats everyone involved, this is a favourite piece of mine. Can't imagine it sung better than this.
The Tallis Scholars.
Great idea ! Nice to "see" the voices floating in and out . I love this piece......however I find I much prefer the slower tempo versions : the first recording I heard of this was just over 13 & 1/2 mins. It also had fabulous clarity where you could hear the many different vocal lines. Ever since, I've found that most versions (like this one) are sung more quickly and to my ears it always seems somewhat "rushed" . Some recordings do not do justice to the multiple vocal lines ie they just sound like one almost uniform mass. I wonder what thought goes into this ? Well done all though :-)
My coffee tastes so much sweeter!
Absolutely brilliant!!
Inspirational and moving
Magnificent ❤
I DO love the idea of the bird (Byrd?) in the background. Very clever. You beat the Aussies to it - like cricket. Watch out in the next few weeks...
Wonderful
Fantastic to hear this. But sort of wishing it had been possible to visually see the 8 choirs laid out visually so that we'd get the sense of what it was like at Arundel House when the choirs sing diagonally, north/south, east/west, up down, etc. Frame members of each choir in a different color. Lay them out on the screen so we see the acoustic genius of the work.
The 8 columns represent the 8 choirs, of course! It's hard to know how they would have been arranged at Arundel House - there were galleries there, so there could have been a vertical component as you say.
I was looking for a video for see the structure of this wonderful piece. I want to stage this piece at my school and take it to the stage! (Sorry, my English isn't very well)
Striggio's 40 part Ecce Beata Lucem next please !
Un Preciosidad.
I just grabbed my copy that thoday I knew exactly where it was for a change!!! Think I've done it a couple of times but see first was in 1915,,, with a group of different ages and we sang in a church in Southampton, stayed at the vicarage and then next day at the almhouses in Wincheser. Anyone recognise that??? Liz.
Sorry a bit too early even for me,, should be 1995!!!!!
Whoop,s 1995 is better.
Thanks to Barny Smith of Voces8 for letting us know this exists!
Would it be possible for you to publish all 40 individual tracks, perhaps at Creative Commons, GitHub, or Soundcloud? It would be of great academic and educational value, allowing students of polyphony and composition to hear how each of the parts work individually, and together. The existing available midi tracks just aren't the same.
Thanks Alex! We will certainly consider this idea.
Superb (but fiendishly difficult to sing 😳)