Two Motet Cycles for Matins for the Dead

Lasso's two four-voice settings for the nine lessons from the book of Job for the Office of the Dead differ sharply in style. The first cycle, an outstanding example of the composer's early motet style, is expansive, varied in texture, and often strongly expressive of the text.

The second cycle, concise and highly declamatory, is in a style seldom encountered in any of Lasso's motets heretofore published in modern editions.