Lasso: Complete Motets 1

The Antwerp motet book of 1556 is Lasso's first publication that includes only his own motets, and it contributed greatly to the composer's renown. It includes five pieces addressed to exalted personages such as Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle, Archbishop of Arras; Reginald Pole, Archbishop of Canterbury; and the emperor Charles V. The other motets are on religious texts, among them "Gustate et videte," which continued to be used in Munich's Corpus Christi processions into the 1580s. Lasso oversaw the production of his new book during his brief residence in Antwerp, but he may have composed some of the pieces in Italy before 1555, especially those that appear to be modeled on settings of the same texts by earlier composers. Among them is the famous "Fremuit spiritus Jesu," in which Lasso set out to surpass the setting by Clemens in affective power.