Utopia Ensemble, The Lamentations of Orlandus Lassus

Orlandus Lassus is 53 when his Lamentations are published in Munich. He is already considered the European composer par excellence: at home in all styles, understood in all countries. In his five-part setting of the lamentations of the prophet Jeremiah, Lassus shows how overwhelming stillness can be. The tectonics of the counterpoint are unparalleled, thanks to voices that slide over each other in changing combinations and chords that wrench and creak, but never clash. As a master colorist, Lassus colors every Hebrew letter with which the verses are started differently – as virtuoso as illuminated initials in a manuscript. Uit Lassus’s brilliant music creates an experience for Belgische Utopia Ensemble: polyphonic lamentations alternate with Gregorian responsories and motets, so that word, sound and silence mirror each other in a purifying ritual.