Lamentations - Roland de Lassus

Referred to as ‘the divine Orlande’ by Ronsard and ‘the Belgian Orpheus’ by his successors, Roland de Lassus (1532-1594) was one of the most prolific composers of the late Renaissance. Blessed with an exceptional voice, he first rose to fame as a singer, before devoting himself to a musical style that gave pride of place to vocality.

This programme for solo voices, performed here for the very first time, features a selection of his most emblematic sacred pieces, including his famous Prophéties des Sibylles, in which the various facets of his musical creativity are on display.

To do them justice and reveal all their subtleties, Paul Agnew and his loyal team of singers draw on their experience of the madrigals and a cappella vocal music of the Italian fifteenth century, whose connections with the work of Lassus are astonishing.