logo
episode-header-image
Jan 2008
27m 48s

Spem in Alium

Bbc Radio 4
About this episode

Thomas Tallis's work is one of the most elaborate and spectacular pieces of choral music ever written.

Scored for 40 voices, the piece is best sung and heard in the round in order to appreciate an extraordinary sonic experience.

Choral conductor Simon Halsey and Michael Morpurgo discuss the music's spine-tingling effect on both performers and listeners.

Featuring:

Graeme Fife John Davies Clive Stafford-Smith

Series about pieces of music with a powerful emotional impact.

Producers: Rosie Boulton & Melvin Rickarby

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2008.

Up next
Jan 24
Make You Feel My Love
"When the rain is blowing in your face / And the whole world is on your case / I could offer you a warm embrace / To make you feel my love"Written by Bob Dylan for his Time Out of Mind album, 'Make You Feel My Love' went on to become a huge hit for Adele and has been covered by B ... Show More
27m 46s
Jan 17
Cranes in the Sky by Solange
Marking 25 years of the award-winning series, Soul Music features songs from the last 25 years. “I tried to drink it away... I tried to run it away...” Solange’s hit song, written in 2008 and released eight years later, muses on themes of isolation, loneliness, and depression. Sh ... Show More
27m 28s
Jan 10
Yellow by Coldplay
"Look at the stars, look how they shine for you..."True stories of what Yellow, one of Coldplay's most iconic songs, means to people 25 years on from its release.It's December 1999 and a relatively unknown band called Coldplay are midway through recording their debut studio album ... Show More
27m 41s
Recommended Episodes
Nov 2023
Ruggles at Carnegie Hall
Synopsis On today’s date in 1949, at Carnegie Hall, Leopold Stokowski conducted the New York Philharmonic in the first performance of the last major work of American composer Carl Ruggles. In a letter to his friend Charles Ives, or “Charlie” as he called him, Ruggles hinted that ... Show More
2 m
Jan 2023
Exploring Handel
In this special in-depth exploration of the music of Handel, Richard Wigmore, Gramophone writer and Handel expert, talks to Editor Martin Cullingford about the composer, one of the most dominant cultural figures of 18th-century London life. From his early years in Germany and Ita ... Show More
1h 9m
Jun 2024
Music for the whirly-birds by Stockhausen and Wagner
Synopsis On today’s date in 1995, the four members of the Arditti String Quartet entered four helicopters warming up their engines at an airfield in Holland. Followed by video cameras, each player’s image and audio was relayed to huge video displays and loudspeakers on the ground ... Show More
1m 59s
Jul 2023
Gramophone's Orchestra of the Year 2023 - the nominees, Part 2, with Rob Cowan
Gramophone's Orchestra of the Year is the only award voted for by our readers and music lovers worldwide. Each year, the magazine's editors produce a short list of 10 ensembles whose music-making, particularly on record, has made a particularly strong impression on our critics. I ... Show More
31m 1s
Dec 2023
Mahler's Second premieres in NYC
Synopsis At Carnegie Hall on today’s date in 1908, Gustav Mahler conducted the New York Symphony, the 200-voice Oratorio Society chorus and two vocal soloists in the American premiere of his Symphony No. 2, his Resurrection Symphony. These days, Mahler’s Second ranks among his mo ... Show More
2 m
Sep 2014
The Voices of Robert Wyatt
Robert Wyatt has been recognised as a prog-rock drummer, jazz composer, avant-garde cornet player, artist and activist in a wheelchair. But, above all else, he has been known by one of the most instantly recognisable and distinctive voices of the last fifty years.Forever associat ... Show More
29m 18s
Sep 2019
Thom Yorke, musician
Thom Yorke has been the front man of Radiohead, one of Britain’s most successful British bands, for 34 years. They have sold over 30 million albums worldwide, and have won three Grammys and four Ivor Novello awards. Their debut studio album, Pablo Honey, was released in 1993, wit ... Show More
54m 2s