Cappella Concert: Cantate Domino

Drew Cantrill-Fenwick writes: This evening’s concert brings together the music of several composers of the mid- to late- Renaissance to recreate the celebration of a festal Mass in Bavaria around 1600. At the heart of the programme is a setting of the Mass Ordinary by the cosmopolitan Orlando Lassus - Flemish by birth, Italian by training and Bavarian by choice. For over forty years he served as a singer and then Kapellmeister at the court of the Duke of Bavaria, and his frequent European travels during this time gave his music a distinctively international flavour. This work, scored for two choirs and doubled by instruments for the grandest effect, exists only in manuscript form, dating from 1583, so its provenance (including its exotic title) remain a mystery. It is perhaps based on a madrigal of the same name of Venetian origin; Amphitrite was a sea nymph. The movements of the Mass will be heard as Lassus intended, that is, separated by other liturgical works - antiphons, motets, psalms and instrumental pieces. The scope of the setting allows for uniformity and variety in equal measure, as well as a virtuoso display of choral writing. Lassus creates different groups from within both choirs to provide an almost endless textural range, from the intimate to the overwhelming. Programme available for download here