Transcendent Music

Forty speakers surround listeners during a performance in New York City of 'Spem in Alium,' an ancient motet.

    When the music ended, the audience did not applaud. Not because we disapproved. We were in awe.
   The setting was a chapel located at the Cloisters Museum in New York City. Forty speakers surrounded us. So did limestone block walls and medieval artwork. The speakers had played a recording of Spem in Alium. It's a Latin motet from the 1500's.
   The music was haunting. My friend described it as ethereal. There's been accounts of people weeping and embracing.
   The composer was Thomas Tallis. He wrote eight separate parts--or melodies--to the motet. Each part is written for five voice types, those being alto, soprano, tenor, baritone, and bass. That's forty individual voices. The melodies are sung at the same time. They compliment each other rather than compete.
   The version in New York City had something else going for it.
   A few years ago, music artist Janet Cardiff positioned forty microphones in front of individual singers at the Salisbury Cathedral Choir in England. They sang the motet. She recorded them.
   Her recording has been described as a masterpiece. Acoustic separations are so distinct, it's as though the choir is surrounding you in person. Call it audio 3D. The recording has played for several months at The Cloisters in New York.
    Music is subjective. But sometimes the impact of a composition, and how it's presented, transcends differences in tastes. What I heard in that chapel deserves such an accolade.