Dalla rivista inglese “Fanfare”

LASSUS Responsories for Holy Week • 
Marco Berrini, dir; Ars Cantica • 
TOCCATA 0404 (54:14 &)

Among the responsories that Orlandus Lassus composed for the Munich court chapel between
1580 and 1585, this set of 18 responsories for four voices for Tenebrae (the last three days of Holy
Week) are found solely as MS 2749 in the Bavarian State Library. They were not included in the
Opera Omnia published from 1894 to 1926. The 18 belong to the second and third nocturns for each
day; the first nocturns would have used chant responsories to follow the more florid lamentations.
The set, dated as 1580, was recorded in 1992 by Ensemble Vocal Jean-Paul Gipon on Champeaux
0003 and reissued on Jade JAD C 102, two CDs that also included a set of lamentations by Lassus
and chanted lessons before each responsory. Toccata offers this 2003 recording, previously available
only as a supplement to an Italian magazine, as the first made from Peter Bergkvist’s critical edition,
volume 24 (1993) in the Barenreiter series. Gipon’s group is larger than the 10 voices that Berrini
directs, the French singers in the gothic church of St. Martin in Champeaux producing a more resonant
sound than the Italian singers do in a church in Bergamo. The interpretations are virtually identical,
for both groups are made up of adult mixed voices, but Berrini’s more intimate sound may give
a better likeness of the Munich ducal court chapel. The six responsories for Good Friday were
recorded even earlier on Discover International (Fanfare 21:3), probably sung one voice to a part
even though only two singers are named in the booklet. The tempos are too fast and it would be noncompetitive
even if it were complete.
While he makes a strong case for the importance of these works, the annotator begins by offering
reasons why Gesualdo’s set, just a few decades later, has been so much more prominent in the
record catalogs. The comparison is unnecessary. These responsories are as fine as anything Lassus
wrote, filling a place in the Holy Week services to perfection. Even without the use of the new critical
edition, Gipon’s liturgically correct inclusion of lessons with the responsories demonstrates that
fact. The record catalogs are filled with hundreds of motets that Lassus wrote, so it’s small wonder
that these works have been overlooked. This superb presentation should find a ready audience. The
most successful Lassus recordings have been the large sets, such as Lagrime di San Pietro and
Psalmi Davidis poenitentiales. The nine Lamentations of Jeremiah are another such set, and these
responsories should find a similar place. Highly recommended. 

J. F. Weber