Modern Spem

Thomas Tallis's glorious 40-part motet Spem In Alium, performed by the Tallis Scholars, is currently riding high in the classical charts, especially the iTunes chart. Good news? Well yes - certainly for the estimable Tallis Scholars - but this success is not the result of a sudden surge of interest in Tudor polyphony but of the all-consuming success of the 'erotic novel' Fifty Shades of Grey. This, I understand, is an account of a 'submissive' relationship, bound by (among other things) elaborately-drafted contracts, between an utterly wet young woman and a creepy, megarich control freak and all-round arse called Mr Grey. One of Mr G's controlling mechanisms is a clunky display of his genius-level grasp of High Culture. His very first gift to his young victim is a first edition (natch) of Tess of the d'Urbervilles, and his discourse is punctuated with improving mini-lectures on a variety of educational subjects - how could any woman resist (hem hem)? As for Spem In Alium, I gather from a reader's online commentary that Mr Grey puts it to 'a VERY interesting use' towards the end of the novel - don't ask, I didn't...