Jackson Free Press

What could an English choir known as The Sixteen have in common with a 1996 Buick LeSabre? For starters, they'll both be in Jackson on April 7, the choir under the auspices of the Mississippi Academy of Ancient Music and the car driven by little ole me. And they're both blessings for me.

Blessings are everywhere, if you make the time and know where to look. In the Buick, my blessings are the CD player and its four speakers—since 1991 I'd driven a car without even a radio—I've listened to Prince, Lenny Kravitz, Dwight Yoakum, Dorothy Moore, YoYo Ma, Herbie Mann, Los Lonely Boys, U2, Dean Martin, James Brown, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Temptations, Rhonda Richmond, Cream, Elvis, the Beatles, Bonnie Riatt, the Beastie Boys and No Doubt.

Then, last week, I put in a regular-looking, shiny silver disc with Spem in alium written on it with a Sharpie.

Polyphony poured forth—a style of music in which two or more independent melodies are juxtaposed in harmony, so it says at Merriam-Webster Online—filling the car with a soundtrack for my morning commute, accompanying huge multi-wheel dump trucks slowing to cross the railroad tracks, lines of vehicles stopping for a traffic signal, brake lights coming on as angelic voices sang.

Spem in alium, I later learned, is a motet written for eight choirs of five voices. All I knew then was that it sounded heavenly and, for a few minutes, the music disconnected me from the reality of $30 visits to the pump and people who rudely refuse to use their turn signals. Singing on the CD is the 40-voice English choir known as The Sixteen, founded just over 25 years ago by one Harry Christophers.

They're known around the world for their dedication to European polyphony from the Renaissance through the Baroque periods. As part of their third American tour, they'll be in Mississippi on April 7—well, only 18 of them—to sing a cappela. No Spem in alium, but still, think about the glorious sounds at the restored heart of the Tougaloo campus, the Woodworth Chapel.

"An Immortal Legacy" begins at 8 p.m. and pays tribute to two anniversaries. First, it's the 500th for Thomas Tallis, the English composer and organist whose career encompassed the reigns of four different kings—he wrote Spem in alium.

Then it's the 100th anniversary of Sir Michael Tippett, also British, who is best known for his oratorio "A Child of Our Time" —it's theme is man's inhumanity to man and also includes five spirituals.

The last man on the bill is John Tavener whose "Song for Athene" was sung at the funeral of Diana Princess of Wales.

For "An Immortal Legacy," The Sixteen has chosen selections from each composer's works, those that will engage the listener in a profound way. According to their press release about the program, you will experience music that is uplifting, astonishing and healing.

Get in your vehicle and make your way to Woodworth Chapel, take your seat in a pew that's more than 100 years old and restored to its original condition, think about the immortal words shared there during the Civil Rights Movement and the fact that you can be a part of this historical and musical legacy as you partake of the blessings brought by The Sixteen.