Life
Orlando di Lasso, also known as Orlande de Lassus, was a Franco-Flemish composer of the late Renaissance, born around 1532 in Mons in the County of Hainaut and died 14 June 1594 in Munich. After early years in Mantua, Naples, and Rome — where he briefly served as maestro di cappella of St. John Lateran — he joined the court of Duke Albrecht V of Bavaria in Munich in 1556 and remained there for the rest of his career, eventually becoming maestro di cappella. Immensely prolific, Orlando di Lasso wrote more than 2,000 works across Latin, Italian, French, and German genres, including over 530 motets. Emperor Maximilian II ennobled him in 1570, reflecting his extraordinary international fame.
Impact
Lasso stands alongside Palestrina and Victoria as one of the supreme masters of late Renaissance polyphony, but distinguished himself through unmatched versatility across languages and secular and sacred genres. His boldly chromatic works, such as the Prophetiae Sibyllarum, anticipated harmonic experiments not fully explored again until centuries later, while his madrigals, motets, and chansons circulated across Europe and influenced generations of continental composers.
Repertoire
Prophetiae Sibyllarum, c. 1560
A cycle of twelve highly chromatic motets setting prophecies of the pagan sibyls, notable for chord progressions strikingly ahead of their time.
Orlando di Lasso: Prophetiae Sibyllarum – I Carmina chromatico (The Hilliard Ensemble) — Performed by The Hilliard Ensemble · Studio recording
Lagrime di San Pietro, 1594
Lasso’s final work, a cycle of twenty-one spiritual madrigals depicting St. Peter’s remorse after denying Christ, dedicated to Pope Clement VIII.
Orlando di Lasso – Lagrime di San Pietro – Il Canto di Orfeo – G. Capuano — Performed by Il Canto di Orfeo / Gianluca Capuano · Concert performance