The Tallis Scholars Sing Thomas Tallis

"'Fifty Shades Of Grey' has quickly become a global phenomenon. The book has spent 18 weeks on the NYTimes best seller list for print and E-book fiction and the two other books in the series now sit at numbers 2 and 3 on the list. Not only do the books hold the highest spots on the chart, there are actually online community threads that read, 'Fifty Shades Withdrawal Support Group,' no joke. So it doesn't surprise us that a piece of classical music featured in the book has, according to the Telegraph, rapidly increased in sales. The piece, 'Spem in Alium,' sung by The Tallis Scholars, jumped from No. 20 to No. 7 on the UK Classical Singles Chart, and it currently sits at No. 4 on the iTunes classical Top 100 chart. ... The song, translated from latin to, 'Hope In Any Other' is a 40-part renaissance motet by English composer Thomas Tallis (c. 1505 - 1585). The piece was composed sometime around 1570 for eight choirs of five voices each. The lyrics translate from Latin to: 'I have never founded by hope on any other than thee, O God of Israel, who shalt be angry, and yet be gracious, and who absolvest all the sins of mankind in tribulation. Lord God, creator of heaven and earth, be mindful of our lowliness'" (Hallie Sekoff, "'Fifty Shades of Grey' and 'Spem in Alum,'" Huffington Post, 7/11/12).

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