EASTERN EARLY MUSIC FORUM
Workshop on Spem in Alium
Tutored by Philip Thorby
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N the hottest day of the year so far, 108
cheerful singers from
BECAUSE of the need to recruit
a large number of competent singers and the relatively central venue it was
decided to make the event a joint workshop between Eastern and
THE event was extremely well organised.
Clifford Bartlett had done a sterling job in producing choir part editions in
four volumes, each covering two of the five part choirs plus a very useful
continuo line which was played on the organ by the
Abbey's director of music Stephen Bullamore. While
some may have regretted not having the full score
which was over two foot square, these editions were much more manageable and it
was easier to keep your place (helpful cues being inserted after long periods
of rest). Clifford and Philip had consulted together on allocation of parts as
explained in a detailed letter which also included
handy information, such as how to get there, where to park and what facilities
to expect. The result was that on arrival we searched for our name on which was
marked our choir 1-8, then were handed an appropriate
choir score. This meant that Philip could organise us in record time in a rough
circle in the front nave, choir stalls and westward-facing seats in front of
the altar.
PHILIP amused us by telling of his latest
research into the origin of the text. He said it was a respond to a reading at Mattins, when there were five Sundays in September and the
Book of Judith being exhausted the reading was from the Book of Esther!
According to Clifford's preface the work was probably commissioned for private
secular performance and consequently for two state occasions. It was never intended to be performed liturgically.
SPEM in Alium is a late work and Philip suggested that it
contained elements of all the different styles Tallis
had composed in from the elaborate polyphony of The Eton Choir Book era to the
rather naive settings of music for the Reformed Church. Certainly my part in
choir three had elements of both. I remember one eight-bar section where every
note was off the beat.
THE music opens quietly and ethereally
with the top two voices and gradually gets taken up by
the others in turn. We were shown the full score where one could easily see the
music gradually descend down the pages as the opening
themes were passed round the choir. This is best heard when the singers are
arranged in a semicircle as we were for our run through.
SIGNIFICANTLY it is not
until bar forty (the number of parts) that everyone sings together for the
first time. It was pointed out that the work was 138
bars in length, being exactly twice the number needed to spell Tallis in the Latin alphabet where j substitutes i. We rehearsed in sections starting in the middle where
the music was more homophonic. One could notice from the start that the music
was a combination of block chords and more elaborate figures
which were passed around. Philip tried hard to get us to bring out these
interesting parts. All too often Spem is just
a glorious wall of sound. We were taught to sing the
key word "Respice" to make it sound like a
demand rather than an appeal. We were also told to
point our phrasing, bringing out words like "habui".
When the general pause occurred at the first "Respice",
Philip avoided the pitfall of a lingering voice by relaxing the tempo and
gathering us together.
WE had to break rather early for lunch at
12.00 because of a lunchtime concert being given on
the harpsichord by Stephen Bullamore. I took
advantage of the fine weather to picnic in the adjoining
INDEED! A mixed blessing was the fact
that the abbey had an open door policy. It was very convenient to have tea,
coffee and biscuits on tap all day and visitors wandering round were no
trouble. Unfortunately during the afternoon session
one or two people forgot themselves and there were some unwelcome rather loud
conversations which did not help our concentration.
MEANWHILE,
back to the singing. To emphasise the urgency of the latter part of
the text Philip tried to hurry us on after the last "Respice";
I'm not sure how successful this was, it was like
trying to hurry a juggernaut. Still the piece held firm and I'm
sure the considerable audience of approaching 100 plus the singers enjoyed the
final result. I would like to thank Philip, Clifford and Stephen for a most
stimulating and pleasant day and for giving many the opportunity to work on and
perform such a stunning piece.
Bob Gee
Extracted from EEMF
Newsletter 59, July 2005