Spem in Allium

Radio 4 had a programme today on Thomas Tallis' Spem in Allium, one of the greatest pieces of music ever written. It was just some people talking about the work and how it affected them, and it was fascinating. Someone who had spent time working with serious offenders in Alabama told how, at times of extreme stress, he would spend his evenings at his computer with headphones on listening to it over and over again, as no other piece was able to give him such a sense of inner peace. Another speaker talked of how it 'invaded the soul', an entirely accurate description. The writer, Michael Morpurgo, talked about his friendship with Ted Hughes, and his grief at his death. Spem in Allium was played at the funeral, and he described how his feelings of intense sorrow melted away as it was sung. It's not just the music, but the words - Man's lowliness and humility in the face of eternity.
Tallis' work is extraordinary - along with Byrd he was the great musician of the Tudor period, composing amidst almost unimaginable upheavals, political and religious. I first became aware of it relatively recently, when I went with one of my sons to a performance by Brian Eno and Joanna McGregor, in Bath Abbey, as part of the Bath Festival, a few years ago, in which Spem in Allium featured. The piece consists of 40 voices, divided into eight 5-piece choirs and they were ranged all around the packed abbey, in the dark, and Eno had devised a light show to accompany it. The result was unforgettable - music for all time.