SATB Extensive divisi

Score available at https://composersedition.com/alison-willis-ask-mercy-while-thou-may

The text for this piece is taken from a Middle English Poem (Bodleian MS. Arch. Selden B. 26, f. 7v). It is combined with the words of the Kyrie Eleison, starting with one simple motif, building to many layered polyphony and returning to the single motif at the end. The musical language is modal with many overlapping layers created by the extensive divisi, perhaps a collective crying our for mercy.

To some extent it is inspired by Tallis’s Spem in Alium and could be performed in the round.