She Installed 40 Speakers In An Art Gallery… The Effect Is Hauntingly Beautiful

LifeBuzz I Music

Great artists give us an opportunity to step out of our everyday lives and experience something truly wonderful. Canadian artist Janet Cardiff has built a virtual sculpture with sound entitled, The Forty Part Motet. Using 40 speakers on stands, Cardiff allows listeners to physically enter a virtual choir. Featuring the forty-part harmonies of Thomas Tallis’s powerful and haunting choral work, each speaker captures the incredible vocal range of one singer. The music is so moving and passionate, visitors are frequently moved to tears at the rich harmony of Cardiff’s audio installation. This is unlike anything you have seen or heard before and the sculpture will leave a lasting impression. According to Cardiff, “People need this emotional release. They need to have this ability to be in the moment and to feel the sense of presence and spirituality that music like this brings to them.”