Tomás Luis de Victoria: Officium Defunctorum

Victoria’s setting of the Officium defunctorum, the Latin Office of the Dead, was written in 1603 for the funeral of the Dowager Empress Maria of Spain. Its sonorous polyphony conveys the composer’s compassion for his royal employer, and his shining faith in eternal salvation through Christ’s mercy. The haunting beauty of these interpretations stems from Collegium Vocale Gent’s pristine blend and immaculate intonation. Above all, the music gains from Philippe Herreweghe’s profound sensitivity to its expressive ebb and flow. Listen, for example, to the fluid rhythms of the plainchant sections of the “Graduale” or “Communio” and the natural way they run here into Victoria’s writing for six-part choir. The album also contains sublime performances of four motets unrelated to death or penitence, none finer than the breathtaking Vadam et circuibo civitatem.