 Roland de Lassus fut un infatigable voyageur : Flandres où il naquit en 1532, Sicile, Mantoue, Milan, Naples, Rome, France, Angleterre, Bavière où il mourut en 1594 après des dernières années de « mélancolie hypocondriaque », on dirait aujourd'hui dépression. Il fut partout considéré comme le plus grand compositeur du XVIe siècle avec Palestrina. Surnommé « divin Orlande » (Ronsard), « prince de la musique » ou « Orphée belge », doué d'une voix extraordinaire, il fut un maître d'Andrea Gabrieli et de son neveu Giovanni à Munich dans les années 1560/70. Ce Requiem à quatre voix (version de 1575, mainte fois remaniée) suit la tradition non-romaine (= française) mais il inclut la séquence « Dies Irae » typique de la réforme tridentine. On ignore pour qui fut composé ce Requiem : le prince-évêque d’Augsburg, Otto von Waldburg ? Hans Jacob Fugger ? Il est écrit dans un registre très bas avec les voix ténor-baryton-basse- « basse profonde » qui sont magnifiquement soutenues dans leur gravité et leur solennité par saqueboutes et basson. Il inclut deux brèves transitions à l'orgue d'Andrea Gabrieli. (Michel Lagrue) In the manuscript Tonk. Schl. 23, a large choir book from the former Benedictine Abbey St. Ulrich und Afra in Augsburg which is currently housed at the Augsburger Staats- und Stadtbibliothek, musicologist Dr. Tobias Rimek discovered a previously unknown copy of Orlando di Lasso‘s Requiem for four voices (see: Musik in Bayern Bd. 74, 2009). The version found in the Augsburg choir book is not only the oldest, but most certainly the original version of the Requiem, including a setting of the sequence "Dies irae", which is missing in all of the later transmissions. The original version from Augsburg is a perfect fifth lower than later printed editions of the composition, which puts all four voices of the ensemble into an extremely low register, requiring the following vocal ranges: tenor, baritone, bass und basso profondo. In our rendition (edition: Tobias Rimek) the voices are reinforced with instruments playing colla parte, consistent with performance practice of the period : three sackbuts, bass dulcian and organ magnify the solemn gravity of the composition. Ensemble Capella Foccara, made up of internationally renowned musicians devoted to historically informed performance practice, focusses on lesser-known music from the 16th to the 18th century, performing primarily works from the regions of Bavaria and Swabia, and from the imperial center Augsburg. The point of departure for this CD was a convention of the Association for Augsburger Diocesan History, the occasion being the five-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Prince- Bishop Cardinal Otto Truchseß von Waldburg in the preceding year. In order to add an appropriate air of splendour to this commemoration of such an illustrious personality, we reinforced Orlando di Lasso‘s Requiem, originally for four voices, with three sackbuts, bass dulcian and organ. In this magnificent constellation the Augsburg version of the Requiem was recreated on November 21, 2014 in the choir of the Basilica St. Ulrich & Afra, at the site where it is believed to have been written, for the first time after nearly 450 years.
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