Abstract
XL is a 40-part motet conceived as a companion and response to Thomas Tallis’s Spem in alium (c.1570), and is one of three major polychoral works by the researcher (the others are XLX – mente cordis sui in 50 parts, and Transiens in 25 parts). It investigates how a contemporary composer can engage with a 40-part polyphonic texture – a medium essentially unexplored since the Renaissance – using modern compositional resources. The work generates new knowledge about the behaviour of large vocal ensembles operating within dense polyphonic textures, the perception and audibility of individual lines within 40-part counterpoint, and the spatial characteristics of 8-choir antiphonal writing. The Faber Music published score enables scholarly analysis of the compositional solutions employed. Part of the portfolio for the degree of Doctor in Church Music (DMus, Central School of Religion, non-accredited), conferred 2026.