Classical Music History Post 06: Entering into the Sixteenth Century
Classical Music History Series—from Orlando de Lasso to Palestrina
Note: For this series on the history of classical music, my primary reference and guide is David Ewen’s The Complete Book of Classical Music (more below), along with online references. Some months I will focus on several composers, and some—particularly beloved, influential, and/or prolific ones—will have a whole month dedicated to listening.
Friends, this month we are immersed in the music of the angels. We are continuing our musical journey (particularly right now in sacred music) with late-Renaissance composers, from Orlando de Lasso to his protégé, the great Palestrina, whose works looked back to the music of the Middle Ages—and perfected it.
Orlando de Lasso (1532-1594)
Another native of Hainault, de Lasso epitomized the late-Renaissance Franco-Flemish style polyphony. And what a career he had. Britannica Online gives us this summary of his life:
“As a child he was a choirboy at St. Nicholas in Mons and because of his beautiful voice was kidnapped three times for other choirs. He was taken into the service of Ferdinand of Gonzaga, general to Charles V, and travelled with the imperial army in its French campaign in 1544. He accompanied Gonzaga to Italy in 1544, where he remained for 10 years. From 1553 to 1554 he was chapelmaster of the papal church of St. John Lateran at Rome, a post later held by Palestrina. Following a sojourn in Antwerp (1555–56), he joined the court chapel of Duke Albrecht V of Bavaria in Munich, where, except for some incidental journeys, he remained for the rest of his life. In 1570 the Emperor Maximilian raised him to the nobility; and, when Lasso dedicated a collection of his masses (1574) to Pope Gregory XIII, he received the knighthood of the Golden Spur.”
As we’ll see below, de Lasso’s direct tutelage was of huge import to the history of music: Giovanni Gabrieli studied under him, as did Palestrina.
David Ewen recommends listening to his “magnum opus,” The Seven Penitential Psalms of David, along specific motets out of his many contributions: “Adoremus te, Christe,” “Tristis est anima mea,” and “In hora ultima.”
The Seven Penitential Psalms of David:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLv5JFtHXY019VnQTBycMXVnwG8IPjVPdC&si=W_NbbGUdvH1sDeYO
Here’s a gorgeous “Adoremus te, Christe” from the Brookline Consort:
And you can’t beat the setting in this performance of “Tristis est anima mea” by the Gesualdo Six at the stunning Lady Chapel at York Minster:
This was an interesting montage of music, words, and paintings for “In hora ultima”:
Of the three motets, I preferred “Adoremus te, Christe”—if only it could have been in York Minster! How about you?
