Tomas Louis de Victoria: Easter Week Lamentations & Responsories

“This offer is less stereotyped. Here just the nine Second Nocturn responsories are sung, each group prefaced by Victoria ‘s complementary polyphonic ‘Lamentation’. Whereas the responsories are short and sharp, there’s an elegant breadth and languor in his music for the Lamentations, and the alternating two styles makes an effective contrast. In the responsories, the Trinity choir succeeds in conveying the texts without straying into the dangerous territory of high drama …their superb discipline compensates for the fact that these are first and foremost liturgical works with roots deeply embedded in the performing traditions of the Roman Catholic Church.” (Gramophone)