Platinum Choral Workshop: Magnificat – Pärt, Lassus and Lambe

Arvo Pärt’s wife Nora said of his music, “The concept of tintinnabuli was born from a deeply rooted desire for an extremely reduced sound world which could not be measured, as it were, in kilometres, or even metres, but only in millimetres....” Pärt is one of the leading composers of the ‘Holy minimalism’ technique, in which he combines the tintinnabuli style with the use of drones and luminous, melodic lines. Here we juxtapose Pärt’s Magnificat with two renaissance settings: the first by Walter Lambe from the Eton Choirbook at the turn of the 16th century; and the second, labyrinthine setting in 10 parts by the outstanding Franco Flemish composer Orlande de Lassus.