I Fagiolini: Victoria

What is it about the music of Spanish Renaissance master Tomás Luis de Victoria that lifts it above other composers? He seems – inexplicably – just to weave from better quality cloth. In the first few bars of ‘Alma Redemptoris mater’, you palbably feel the difference. Writers talk of the spirituality of his music but what does actually mean? As a sort of musical El Greco, there seems to be something in the aural brushwork that adds depth and spice, alongside an extraordinary joy and reverence in the text.

Hear Victoria’s utterly sublime eight-voice motets alongside the highly intimate and small-scale ‘Tenebrae for Maundy Thursday’ – but also rarely heard jewels such ‘Nigra sum’ (why does it begin in ‘joyful’ triple time?) and ecstasy of Vidi speciosam. Robert Hollingworth guides you through the symbolism with performers steeped in this music.

‘intensely pure and smooth yet there is nothing pallid about this particular early music sound – surges of passion abound.’ ★★★★★ BBC Music Magazine