Explanation

The Forty Part Motet

Johanniterkirche, Feldkirch, Austria, 2005. Photo by Markus Tretter. Courtesy of the artist and Luhring Augustine, New York.

Fonadation d’entreprise Hermès, Tokyo, 2009. Photo by Atsushi Nakamichi / Nacása & Partners Inc. Courtesy of the Fondation d'entreprise Hermès, 2009

Platform Seoul Installation, 2008. Photo by Myoung-Rae Park. Courtesy of the artist and Luhring Augustine, New York.

Rideau Chapel, National Gallery of Canada 2001. Coursey of the National Gallery of Canada.

Musée d'Art Contemporain, Montreal 2002. Courtesy of the artist and Luhring Augustine, New York.

Janet Cardiff in der Ausstellung 40 part motet im Kunstmuseum des Kantons Thurgau Copyright Kunstmuseum des Kantons Thurgau

Recording Session, Salisbury Cathedral Choir 2000, Photo by Hugo Glendinning. Courtesy of the artist and Luhring Augustine, New York.

Images

Video

Description

The Forty Part Motet

2001

Medium:
40 loud speakers mounted on stands, placed in an oval, amplifiers, playback computer

Duration:
14 min. loop with 11 min. of music and 3 min. of intermission

Janet Cardiff

The Forty Part Motet (A reworking of “Spem in Alium” by Thomas Tallis 1573)

Forty separately recorded voices are played back through forty speakers strategically placed throughout the space.

Comments by the artist:
“While listening to a concert you are normally seated in front of the choir, in traditional audience position. 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. Enabling the audience to move throughout the space allows them to be intimately connected with the voices. It also reveals the piece of music as a changing construct. As well 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.

I placed the speakers around the room in an oval so that the listener would be able to really feel the sculptural construction of the piece by Tallis. You can hear the sound move from one choir to another, jumping back and forth, echoing each other and then experience the overwhelming feeling as the sound waves hit you when all of the singers are singing.”