Lassus: Music for Holy Week/Requiem

1. Lamentationes Hieremiae (9), for 5 voices, H. xxii/3 Lamentations (3) for Maundy Thursday
Composed by Orlande de Lassus
with Pro Cantione Antiqua

2. Lamentationes Hieremiae (9), for 5 voices, H. xxii/3 Lamentations (3) for Good Friday
Composed by Orlande de Lassus
with Pro Cantione Antiqua

3. Lamentationes Hieremiae (9), for 5 voices, H. xxii/3 Lamentations (3) for Holy Saturday
Composed by Orlande de Lassus
with Pro Cantione Antiqua

4. Aurora lucis rutilat (octavi toni), magnificat for 10 voices, H. xvii/124
Composed by Orlande de Lassus
with Pro Cantione Antiqua

5. Surgens Jesus, motet for 5 voices, M. ii (S. v/60)
Composed by Orlande de Lassus
with Pro Cantione Antiqua

6. Christus resurgens ex mortuis, motet for 5 voices, M. xii (S. v/54)
Composed by Orlande de Lassus
with Pro Cantione Antiqua

7. Regina coeli laetare, motet for 5 voices, M. xxi (S. v/106)
Composed by Orlande de Lassus
with Pro Cantione Antiqua

8. Aurora lucis rutilat (octavi toni), magnificat for 10 voices, H. xvii/124
Composed by Orlande de Lassus
with Pro Cantione Antiqua

9. Missa Pro defunctis, for 4 voices, H. iv/95
Composed by Orlande de Lassus
with Pro Cantione Antiqua

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Special Liturgical Music.......2006-09-14

'Music for Holy Week' and 'Music for Easter Sunday', in a two CD package of these works by Orlandus Lassus are from a period between the garden variety polyphony of the Late Middle Ages and the full blown grandeur of Bach, Hayden, and Mozart. The works are just a bit closer to the Renaissance than they are to the classical era, but they are certainly more interesting than chants from the usual parts of the Latin mass.

With almost 70 minutes of music on each CD, this is an excellent choice, especially since you will have occasion to come back to it at least once a year. To my amateur ear, the performances from Pro Cantione Antiqua are up to Hyperion's usual high standards.

Average customer rating:

Sadness and Beauty
Turn your lounge into a Renaissance cathedral
Beautiful Requiem...Motets lacking

Lassus: Music for Holy Week/Requiem

Manufacturer: Hyperion
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Magnificats | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Masses | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Motets | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Renaissance (c.1450-1600) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000002ZEI
Release Date: 1997-03-10

Tracks:

The Lamentations of Jeremiah: Three Lamentations For Maundy Thursday - The First Lamentation Of The First Day
The Lamentations of Jeremiah: Three Lamentations For Maundy Thursday - The Second Lamentation Of The First Day
The Lamentations of Jeremiah: Three Lamentations For Maundy Thursday - The Third Lamentation Of The First Day
The Lamentations of Jeremiah: Three Lamentations For Good Friday - The First Lamentation Of The Second Day
The Lamentations of Jeremiah: Three Lamentations For Good Friday - The Second Lamentation Of The Second Day
The Lamentations of Jeremiah: Three Lamentations For Good Friday - The Third Lamentation Of The Second Day
The Lamentations of Jeremiah: Three Lamentations For Holy Saturday - The First Lamentation Of The Third Day
The Lamentations of Jeremiah: Three Lamentations For Holy Saturday - The Second Lamentation Of The Third Day
The Lamentations of Jeremiah: Three Lamentations For Holy Saturday - The Third Lamentation Of The Third Day

Tracks:

Music For Easter Sunday: Aurora lucis rutilat
Music For Easter Sunday: Surgens Jesus
Music For Easter Sunday: Christus resurgens
Music For Easter Sunday: Regina coeli laetare
Music For Easter Sunday: Magnificat super 'Aurora lucis rutilat'
Requiem For Four Voices: Introitus: Requiem aeternam
Requiem For Four Voices: Kyrie
Requiem For Four Voices: Graduale: Si ambulem in medio umbrae mortis
Requiem For Four Voices: Tractus: Absolve Domine
Requiem For Four Voices: Sequentia: Dies irae
Requiem For Four Voices: Offertorium: Domine Jesu Christe, rex gloriae
Requiem For Four Voices: Sanctus
Requiem For Four Voices: Agnus Dei
Requiem For Four Voices: Communio: Lux aeterna luceat eis
Requiem For Four Voices: Antiphon: In paradisum

Customer Reviews:

Sadness and Beauty.......2007-02-16

Once again my eloquent Australian friend Stephen Guy has said most of what I would say about this recording. So I'll offer a musical companionship. If you love Renaissance vocal music, you may well find some of the same glories in very modern music. A recording you shouldn't miss is LAMENTATE by the Estonian composer Arvo Part, sung by the Hilliard Ensemble. You might also try out LAMENT by Giya Kancheli. And if you like to read before/after listening, Yasunari Kawabata's BEAUTY AND SADNESS should certainly prove worthy.

Turn your lounge into a Renaissance cathedral.......2007-02-15

I am a very big fan of the music of Orlando di Lasso (or Roland de Lassus or whatever you feel like calling him this week). He was one of the greatest composers in human history. Yet he isn't half as well known as his peer, Palestrina. Perhaps this is because Palestrina's music, which was composed on strict academic lines, has been used as teaching material for several hundred years? Lassus was eclectic and used a range of styles and forms in his music, which wasn't always academic in its approach, but always very expressive and intellectual. Lassus composed everything from dirty ditties to the deepest and most expressive sacred music - sometimes he even did both at once! [see the Missa entre vous files]

I have listened to this double CD much over the last ten years and it still moves me in many ways. I listen to it when I am happy and I listen when I am sad. What I like the most about this recording is that it doesn't treat the listener like he or she is an ignoramus or a philistine - it never patronises the listener or compromises anything to make itself more appealing to "the masses".
Each disc contains over 70 minutes worth of music. The Pro Cantione Antiqua sing this music with great style and beauty, yet they bring out the depth of expression in this music with great taste and intelligence. The ensemble uses male voices from soprano to bass most of the time and as a result the sound is very unified. The three countertenors on the top lines are particularly good.

This isn't easy music to get to know and it is not a disc for casual listening. Yes, it is quite demanding, highly articulate and intellectually rigorous music, so be warned! However, if you want some music which, potentially, can become part of your life and your mind, for the rest of your life, then this is a disc for you.

If you're looking for some "classy relaxation music" for your time in the hot tub, then look elsewhere.

Beautiful Requiem...Motets lacking.......2003-06-15

Firstly, this review is limited to the music for Easter Sunday and the Requiem, as I have purchsed only the second CD of this album's separate reissue. This is the first CD I have ever heard by Pro Cantione Antiqua, bought on recommendation. I must say that I am somewhat disappointed. I was left with a sense of ambiguity where other choral ensembles, such as The Tallis Scholars or the Hilliard Ensemble seem more precise.
On a positive note, the Requiem conducted by Mark Brown is excellent. It keeps a pleasant momentum throughout, the voices blend wonderfully (mostly because it is so consistently low-pitched and close-drawn) and, most importantly, it gives the listener that sense of 'Requiem' (sombre, serious, reflective, yet musically satisfying) that such a piece should.
On the other hand, the motets did not quite meet my expectations (which were high, I admit), though that is certainly not to say that they are badly performed. In themselves they are beautifully written pieces and the individual voices in this recording are nothing short of fabulous, but at times it sounds almost as though the countertenor is aggressively forcing himself at the high notes drawing a great deal of attention to his single voice at the expense of the choir as a whole. This is especially disturbing in the words 'mundus exultans jubilat' of the first motet. Moreover, the voices at times sound as though they are competing solos, as opposed to complementary harmonies. The vibratos are a bit overstated, but that's hardly significant for the most part. All of this may be overstated, perhaps accentuated by the contrast that results in playing the Requiem immediately after hearing the motets.
I any case, the CD is quite good on the whole. Having heard other performances by this group, I can only say that I have mixed feelings. One needs to choose carefully with them, more so than with other choir's like the aforementioned Tallis Scholars or The Clerks' Group (there is of course the issue of repertoire..).
Other general recommendations (not necessarily performances of these pieces) are the Winchester Cathedral Choir (Victoria's Requiem, Tallis's Spem in Alium), Henry's Eight (Gombert), The Sixteen and La Chapelle Royale with Philippe Herreweghe (especially the motets by Desprez!).

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