On this, the second volume of Magnificat’s three-part project ‘Lassus: The Alchemist’, the ensemble explores the composer’s Magnificats based on motets. It is remarkable that, of Lassus’s thirty-five Magnificats based on polyphonic models, only eight draw musical inspiration from motets. But if these Magnificats are relatively few in number, their musical quality and impact are outsized. Whether in Praeter rerum seriem, where he expands Josquin’s motet into a formidable 250-bar Magnificat, or Aurora lucis rutilat, where he transforms his own Eastertide motet into a jubilant musical celebration, these works exemplify some of Lassus’s finest compositional achievements. Inspired by the lavish musical resources of the ducal chapel in Munich, where Lassus worked from 1557 until his death in 1594, this album brings together voices and instruments in diverse combinations, enhancing the richness and variety of the scoring.

Magnificat
Charlotte Ashley – soprano
Amy Haworth – soprano
Hugh Cutting – alto
Guy Cutting – tenor
Steven Harrold – tenor
Nicholas Todd – tenor
Benjamin Davies – baritone
William Gaunt – bass
Giles Underwood – bass
Martin Bolterauer – cornet
Clément Gester – cornet
Maximilien Brisson – sackbut
Susanna Defendi – sackbut
Emily Saville – sackbut
Henry Van Engen – sackbut
William Lyons – dulcian
Edward Higginbottom – organ

Philip Cave – director