March 2009

Sacred Lassus II: Canciones Sacrae

The Cantiones Sacrae are the swansong of one of the masters of the motet, crowning his life’s work. In them Orlandus Lassus deploys with sovereign ease the essence of his art, which distinguishes him from, say, his contemporary Palestrina: the complex technique of vocal polyphony is employed in order to espouse the nuances of the text as closely as possible. In other words, here we have the ideal balance between ‘head’ and ‘heart’, the recurrent feature of most of the greatest masterpieces.

Composer: ROLAND DE LASSUS (1532 -1594)

CD Info: HMC 901984

Sacred Lassus I: Missa pro defunctis

Our longest single-composer series—over 50 hours of chronological material—was dedicated to the genius from Mons, Roland de Lassus, (also known as Orlando di Lasso and Orlandus Lassus). We begin our three-part series on his scared music with his setting of the Requiem Mass.

Composer: ROLAND DE LASSUS (1532 -1594),

CD Info: ECM CD 1658

Don’t Weep for me, O Mother

Our friends from the Abbey of Chevetogne are back, and we will begin and end our Belgian series with their latest two recordings. This week, the Matins of Holy Saturday.

Composer:

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Victoria, Cabezon, Praetorius

Additional works from both the concerts by The Sixteen and the Huelgas Ensemble surround harpsichord virtuoso Diego Ares' tribute to the blind composer and performer Antonio Cabezon (c.1510-1566).

Composer: Antonio de Cabezón ca.1510-1566

CD Info:

Michael Praetorius

In a typical break with the prevailing winds, Paul Van Nevel and his Huelgas Ensemble give us a concert illustrating Praetorius' pivotal role between the Renaissance and Baroque styles of music.

Composer: Michael Praetorius (1571-1621)

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