Thomas Tallis’s motet, Spem in alium
- A copy of Thomas Tallis’s Spem in alium motet was discovered in the library at Nonsuch Palace in 1609.
- A theory suggests the motet was composed for performance in Nonsuch Palace’s octagonal banqueting hall, possibly using its four balconies to create a spatial effect.
- This theory is based on the musical structure of Spem in alium, not on evidence of a performance of Striggio’s work at Nonsuch Palace
The “Missa sopra Ecco sì beato giorno” is a lost work by Alessandro Striggio, not Thomas Tallis, and was not discovered at Nonsuch Palace. A separate, similarly complex 40-part piece, Thomas Tallis’s “Spem in alium,” was listed in a 1596 Nonsuch Palace catalogue and is sometimes confused with Striggio’s work. The 1596 catalogue entry for Tallis’s work incorrectly attributes it to “Mr. Tallys” and calls it a “song of fortie partes,” but it was later identified as a Mass.
- Striggio’s Mass: The “Missa sopra Ecco sì beato giorno” by Alessandro Striggio is a lost work dating from around 1565–6. It was rediscovered in 2005 in the Bibliothèque nationale de France. There is no record of this piece being performed or catalogued at Nonsuch Palace.
- Tallis’s motet: The 1596 Nonsuch Palace catalogue entry refers to a different 40-part work, Thomas Tallis’s “Spem in alium”. It was mistakenly described as a song in the catalogue.
- Confusion with Nonsuch: The Nonsuch Palace connection to the 1596 catalogue is for Tallis’s work, not Striggio’s. Striggio’s work is a lost piece that was found centuries later in a French library, making it distinct from the pieces known to have been in the Nonsuch collection