Janet Cardiff: The Forty Part Motet at The Cloisers

Janet Cardiff, The Forty Part Motet

For the first time, The Cloisers, as a part of their 75th Anniversary Celebration, are exhibiting a work of contemporary art. The Forty Part Motet (2001) is a sound sculpture installation by Canadian artist Janet Cardiff. The work consists of forty speakers fixed on stands in a ellipse throughout the Fuentidueña Chapel. The speakers continuously plan an eleven-minute version of the forty-part motet Spem in alium numquam habui (translation: “In No Other Is My Hope”) by Tudor composer Thomas Tallis (YouTube like embedded below). Each individual unaccompanied voice and part (bass, baritone, alto, tenor and child soprano) is represented by a single speaker.

The above YouTube clip, or any recording of the piece for that matter, will not do the work justice. It’s best experienced in the chapel, as the artist had intended. The best way to experience the piece is to walk around the inside of the speakers and take in and pass by every individual voice recording. The waves of sound are overwhelming, awe-inspiring and the room is flooded with the collective voices of this piece as it was intended to be hear. Even in a chorus or live experience, the voices are never so compartmentalized and individualized–they end up blending together. Here, they are isolated and where you stand in the room influences and alters your sensory perception. Part of the experience is also how you, the viewer, manipulate your position in the room and the conscious decisions that you make navigating throughout the piece. The work is a compelling must-see.

The Unicorn is Attacked, 1495–1505, South Netherlandis

This was actually my first time visiting the Cloisters, probably because it’s an all-day affair and takes a while to get there on the A-train, but I throughly enjoyed the visit and the Medieval architecture and marvel. The unicorn tapestries (one piece is embedded above) were another highlight of the visit.