This Week in Classical Music: December 30, 2024. New Year. New Year’s Day is Wednesday of this week, and we wish all our listeners a very happy New Year.We often celebrate the end of the year with the music of the great composers of the High Renaissance, as we’ll do this year.This time we present the music of four: Palestrina, Orlando di Lasso, Tomás Luis de Victoria, and Giovanni Gabrieli, all born within less than 30 years of each other.All four worked in Italy but only two were Italian, one of them the great Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, born in 1525. We’ll hear a Magnificat by Palestrina, who wrote 35 versions of this hymn.Magnificat is the Virgin Mary’s praise of her Son, it forms part of the Vespers service.Here’s Palestrina’s Magnificat quinti toni (for five voices), published in 1591.The British Enselmble The Sixteen is conducted by its founder, Harry Christophers.
Orlando di Lasso (his name is often spelled Orlando Lassus) was born in the Flemish town of Mons in 1530 or 1532.Ferrante Gonzaga, of the Mantuan Gonzaga family, hired Orlando, then aged 12, while visiting the Low Countries.He brought him to Mantua in 1545.For the following 10 years, Orlando stayed in Italy, first in Sicily and Naples, then in Rome.Even though the rest of his life was spent at the Bavarian court in Munich, Orlando visited Italy several times.Here’s his motet Da Pacem Domine, performed by the German Alsfeld Vocal Ensemble, Wolfgang Helbich conducting.
The Spaniard Tomás Luis de Victoria was born in Avila in 1548.When he was 15, he was sent to Rome’s Jesuit Collegio Germanico; later, already an established composer, he would teach there.Victoria stayed in Rome till 1583 and then returned to Spain and spent the rest of his life in the service of Dowager Empress María, the wife of Charles V.In 1605 he composed Officium Defunctorum, a setting which includes a Requiem Mass, Missa pro defunctis, one of the greatest achievements of Renaissance music.Here is Versa est in luctum from the setting.David Hill leads the Westminster Cathedral Choir.
Giovanni Gabrieli, a nephew of another great composer, Andrea Gabrieli, was born in Venice in 1554.He worked at the tail end of the Renaissance when some, often minor, composers experimented with what would become the Baroque.Like his uncle, Giovanni was a student of Orlando di Lasso: he went to Munich and stayed at Duke Albrecht V's court for several years while Orlando was in charge of music-making there.In 1585 Giovanni returned to Venice and became the principal organist at the San Marco Basilica; a year later was appointed the principal composer at the church, the musical center of Venice.The unique acoustics of San Marco were used by many Venetian composers, and Gabrieli in his motet Hodie Christus Natus Est for eight voices created wonderful effects, using two choirs positioned on the opposite sides of the nave.And San Marco is where this particular recording was made.E. Power Biggs is the organist, and the Edward Tarr Brass Ensemble is conducted by Vittorio Negri.
New Year 2025
This Week in Classical Music: December 30, 2024. New Year. New Year’s Day is Wednesday of this week, and we wish all our listeners a very happy New Year. We often celebrate the end of
the year with the music of the great composers of the High Renaissance, as we’ll do this year. This time we present the music of four: Palestrina, Orlando di Lasso, Tomás Luis de Victoria, and Giovanni Gabrieli, all born within less than 30 years of each other. All four worked in Italy but only two were Italian, one of them the great Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, born in 1525. We’ll hear a Magnificat by Palestrina, who wrote 35 versions of this hymn. Magnificat is the Virgin Mary’s praise of her Son, it forms part of the Vespers service. Here’s Palestrina’s Magnificat quinti toni (for five voices), published in 1591. The British Enselmble The Sixteen is conducted by its founder, Harry Christophers.
Orlando di Lasso (his name is often spelled Orlando Lassus) was born in the Flemish town of Mons in 1530 or 1532. Ferrante Gonzaga, of the Mantuan Gonzaga family, hired Orlando, then aged 12, while visiting the Low Countries. He brought him to Mantua in 1545. For the following 10 years, Orlando stayed in Italy, first in Sicily and Naples, then in Rome. Even though the rest of his life was spent at the Bavarian court in Munich, Orlando visited Italy several times. Here’s his motet Da Pacem Domine, performed by the German Alsfeld Vocal Ensemble, Wolfgang Helbich conducting.
The Spaniard Tomás Luis de Victoria was born in Avila in 1548. When he was 15, he was sent to Rome’s Jesuit Collegio Germanico; later, already an established composer, he would teach there. Victoria stayed in Rome till 1583 and then returned to Spain and spent the rest of his life in the service of Dowager Empress María, the wife of Charles V. In 1605 he composed Officium Defunctorum, a setting which includes a Requiem Mass, Missa pro defunctis, one of the greatest achievements of Renaissance music. Here is Versa est in luctum from the setting. David Hill leads the Westminster Cathedral Choir.
Giovanni Gabrieli, a nephew of another great composer, Andrea Gabrieli, was born in Venice in 1554. He worked at the tail end of the Renaissance when some, often minor, composers experimented with what would become the Baroque. Like his uncle, Giovanni was a student of Orlando di Lasso: he went to Munich and stayed at Duke Albrecht V's court for several years while Orlando was in charge of music-making there. In 1585 Giovanni returned to Venice and became the principal organist at the San Marco Basilica; a year later was appointed the principal composer at the church, the musical center of Venice. The unique acoustics of San Marco were used by many Venetian composers, and Gabrieli in his motet Hodie Christus Natus Est for eight voices created wonderful effects, using two choirs positioned on the opposite sides of the nave. And San Marco is where this particular recording was made. E. Power Biggs is the organist, and the Edward Tarr Brass Ensemble is conducted by Vittorio Negri.