Janet Cardiff: The Forty Part Motet

The Forty Part Motet (A reworking of ‘Spem in Alium’, by Thomas Tallis 1556) (2001) is a deeply moving sound installation by artist Janet Cardiff (Canadian, born 1957). This pioneering work immerses visitors in a performance of ‘Spem in Alium’ (Hope in Any Other), a sixteenth-century sacred motet, or polyphonic choral composition, by composer Thomas Tallis (English, 1505–1585). To make the work, Cardiff recorded forty members of the Salisbury Cathedral Choir singing the piece individually. She then placed forty speakers in a large oval, with each speaker playing a different part. The installation offers a transcendent spatial experience of music as the sound shifts from one speaker to the next before converging as a full choir.

As Cardiff explains, ‘With this piece I want the audience to be able to experience a piece of music from the viewpoint of the singers. Every performer hears a unique mix of the piece of music. I am interested in how sound may physically construct a space in a sculptural way and how a viewer may choose a path through this physical yet virtual space.’

One of the most acclaimed sound works of the twenty-first century, The Forty Part Motet is on loan from The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York. It is the first project realised through the Memorandum of Understanding between M+ and MoMA, signed in February 2025.