Orlandus Lassus was 53 when his Lamentations were published in Munich. Even then, he was considered to be the quintessential European composer: at home in every style and understood in every country. In his five-voice settings of the Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremiah, Lassus demonstrates how overwhelming quiet can be. The tectonics of the counterpoint are without equal, thanks to voices slipping over one another in alternating combinations and chords that wrench and grind but never collide. As a master colourist, Lassus gives every Hebrew letter at the beginning of the verses a different timbre, with the virtuosity of an artist painting illuminated initials in a manuscript. The Belgian Utopia Ensemble turns Lassus’ brilliant music into an experience: polyphonic lamentations alternate with Gregorian responsories and motets, so that text, sound and silence mirror each other in a cathartic ritual.
Program
O. Lassus: Hieremae propheae lamentationes à 5 (1585) and motets
Performers
Michaela Riener, mezzo-soprano | Bart Uvyn, countertenor | Adriaan De Koster, tenor | Lieven Termont, baritone | Guillaume Olry, bass