
Janet Cardiff, Forty‑Part Motet , 2001. 40‑track audio installation, installation dimensions variable. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. © Janet Cardiff. Photo: NGC
Janet Cardiff, Forty‑Part Motet , 2001. 40‑track audio installation, installation dimensions variable. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. © Janet Cardiff. Photo: NGC
The publicly and critically acclaimed Forty-Part Motet is now back on display at the National Gallery of Canada.
This brilliant sound sculpture by Canadian artist Janet Cardiff is a reworking of Spem in Alium, a piece by 16th-century English composer Thomas Tallis. Forty separately-recorded choir voices are played back through 40 speakers positioned around the Rideau Chapel in the Indigenous and Canadian Galleries. The effect of the work on visitors is deeply moving.
– Janet Cardiff
Listen to Senior Curator of Contemporary Art Josée Drouin-Brisebois as she talks about Janet Cardiff's brilliant sound sculpture.
Live the experience of hearing Janet Cardiff’s Forty-Part Motet in our Rideau Chapel in this 360 degree video.