The Byrd Ensemble opens its 2026|27 Seattle series, Shadow & Splendor, with Spem in alium: Hope in Darkness on Sunday, October 25, at 3 pm at Holy Rosary Church in West Seattle. The program centers on Thomas Tallis’s Spem in alium, performed with forty voices.

Tallis composed Spem in alium around 1570 for forty voices, divided into eight choirs of five. Over roughly ten minutes, the voices enter one by one and layer into a dense, stereophonic sound. It is one of the great works of the Renaissance, and it is rarely heard live because of the forces it requires. The rest of the program features motets by Tallis, William Byrd, and John Taverner, who shaped the sound of English sacred music through one of history’s most turbulent periods of religious change. Joined by Arvo Pärt’s Da pacem Domine, the program moves from grief to hope.

“Spem in alium is a piece you can’t fully experience until you’re there in person, surrounded by forty voices arranged in a horseshoe,” said Markdavin Obenza, artistic director of the Byrd Ensemble.

The Seattle performance follows the ensemble’s concert the day before, Saturday, October 24, at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Portland.

CONCERT DETAILS
What: The Byrd Ensemble presents Spem in alium: Hope in Darkness
When: Sunday, October 25, 2026, 3 pm
Where: Holy Rosary Church, 4142 42nd Ave SW, Seattle, WA 98116
Tickets: $25-$65
https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/byrdensemble/oct-25-spem-in-alium