The other day, I was sitting in my car after running some errands. Before heading home, I decided to clear out the notifications on my phone. One of them was for an article outlining the greatest “wow” moments in classical music. The former double music major in me of course pressed my finger to the linky link.
Most of the pieces in the article list were old friends to me. Many of them were built around religious themes, like Allegri’s Miserere. But the approaches within those pieces reflected wildly different interpretations of what glorifying or otherwise interacting with God sounds like.
A traditional version of glorifying God is bold and dramatic, reflecting His power and majesty. Everyone is unified in a glorious wall of sound, as in the opening to Handel’s coronation anthem, Zadok the Priest (the choir enters around 1:30):
We are meant to be like Zadok the Priest in our leadership and service to Him sometimes — all working in the same way toward one theme and purpose.
Yet, there are pieces like Thomas Tallis’ magnificent Spem In Alium, too. In this work, Tallis weaves together 40 vocal lines — yes, 40 — in six separate choirs. His composition produces a wall of sound, too, but it is a beautiful kaleidoscope. Parts come in and out of the texture until all six choirs eventually unify.
The first version of Spem In Alium below features a full choir (King’s College Cambridge). The King’s Singers, with a little help of technology, sing the second version. I include both here first because the King’s College Cambridge recording provides such a good visual demonstration of what’s happening in the score with pitches and rhythms. I’m also giving you both so you can have a taste of how the number of people and recording space involved can influence the effect of the piece.
There is absolutely a time and place for Zadok. God deserves those types of moments. Yet, pieces like Spem In Alium remind me how much everything He made contributes to the whole and how all of us are working asynchronously to glorify Him with the unique gifts He’s given to us.
As you listen to these pieces, which one resonates with you most (pun intended)? Can you broadly connect circumstances or goals in your life that might be represented better by one piece rather than the other?