This surely represents the King's Singers at their very best. They are equally at home in the French, the Italian and the German songs of Lassus, they point many of the quite extraordinary contrasts between his different styles and moods; they make everything sound as though it was written specially for their voices; and they present all the music with the professional polish that has ensured their continued success over the years.
Certainly there are several pieces where they should surely have risked a much slower tempo particularly among the opening group of French songs: when in doubt they have a tendency to aim for brilliance before expression. There is also a certain sameness in their voice quality, which can be a little tiring on the ear. But that simply means that this is one of those many records that should not be listened to right through at one sitting: each piece needs to be savoured.
And what a group of pieces it is. In his enormous output of secular music Lassus shows himself as one of those very few composers who can produce something new and vital even when writing on the smallest scale in fact, particularly on the smallest scale, though one of the longest pieces here (at just under four minutes) is also among the most successful: the setting of Hans Sachs's ridiculous poem about noses, Hort zu ein news Gedicht.
The insert has full texts and translations (which face up to fearsome difficulties with considerable courage) and a very helpful introductory note by Frank Dobbins.'