# Thomas Tallis — Spem in alium

Thomas Tallis’s Spem in alium (1570) is No. 1 in our Renaissance ranking. The full verdict, and where to hear it.

- **Released:** 1570
- **On one list:** Renaissance
- **Updated:** 2026-08-30
- **Artist:** [Thomas Tallis](https://waxonia.com/artist/thomas-tallis/)
- **Canonical page:** https://waxonia.com/track/thomas-tallis--spem-in-alium/

## What we say

### No. 1 in [Renaissance](https://waxonia.com/genre/renaissance/)

Forty genuinely independent voices in eight choirs of five, passing an entry around the room and then all arriving at once. Nothing before the orchestra is this overwhelming, and very little after it.

## Analysis

8 sections, the first drop of 2 at 2:32, 51% of the way in, 47% of it spent climbing.

- **Tempo:** 123 BPM — holds throughout
- **Key:** A major
- **Dynamic range:** 14.3 dB — wide open — the quiet parts are genuinely quiet
- **Length:** 4:58

- `0:00` A · **intro** (bar -2), instrumental — opens the record below its own average energy
- `0:13` B · **build** (bar 4), instrumental — energy and brightness climbing without a break
- `0:44` B · **build** (bar 20), sung — energy and brightness climbing without a break — playing: vocals
- `1:46` B · **build** (bar 52), sung — energy and brightness climbing without a break — playing: vocals
- `2:33` C · **peak** (bar 76), sung — sits at the top of this record's range — playing: vocals
- `2:51` B · **breakdown** (bar 86), sung — energy falling away mid-record, percussion thinning — playing: vocals
- `4:16` A · **steady** (bar 129), sung — holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling — playing: vocals
- `4:35` D · **lift** (bar 139), sung — a short rise that does not resolve — a fill or a transition, not a build — playing: vocals

**Drops** at 2:32 (bar 76), 3:43 (bar 112). A drop is a moment, not a stretch.

**What is playing.** Separated into parts by a source-separation model, so each lane is the instrument it names.

- **drums:** the drum kit, separated from the mix
- **bass:** the bass part, separated from the mix
- **vocals:** the voice, separated from the mix
- **other:** everything else — synths, guitars, keys, strings

Measured from the YouTube master on 2026-08-29. Section labels describe how the energy
moves, not musical form. Anything we were not confident enough to state is omitted
rather than hedged.

## Listen

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Thomas%20Tallis%20Spem%20in%20alium) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=CkL1hdL40i0)

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