For those who believe in Original Sin, Predestination or, for that matter, Karma, here's a two disc set of the complete "Penitential Psalms" of Orlandus Lassus fabulously performed by Henry's Eight and marvelously recorded by Hyperion. Gloomy but glorious works that hope for the best while assuming for the worst, Lassus' setting of seven fuliginously serious but spiritually salubrious Psalms of David are sure to send shivers down the spine of anyone with a pessimistic cast of mind. The acapella performances of the all-male – two countertenors, three tenors and three basses – Henry's Eight is darkly hued, strongly rhythmic, deeply soulful, very expressive and absolutely true to the late Renaissance agony of Lassus's music. While not perhaps the first place to start with for Lassus in a melancholy mood – try "The Tears of Peter" for the peak of harmonic anguish – Henry's Eight's recording Penitential Psalms belongs in every Lassus collection, especially as preserved in Hyperion's intimate and evocative sound.

Kyrie, the Missa Entre vous filles is Lassus at this freshest and most telling, and the Sanctus is particularly beautiful. The Missa Susanne un jour, however, is more ambitious, based on what Jeremy Summerly describes as ‘the most famous song of the 16th century—the l’homme arme of its day’. Moreover, as it deals with the Apocryphal Susanna who was accused of wanton behaviour by two elders after she had spurned their sexual advances, this was just the sort of parody model that had caused the Council of Trent to be upset, two decades earlier. However, it inspired Lassus to his richest polyphony, and many of his celebrants may not have been aware of the implications of the original chanson’s text.

This cycle of 21 spiritual madrigals for seven voices is at once the swan song of the most famous composer of his time, who died in 1594 at the age of 62 just three weeks after dedicating the work to the Pope, and the high point of Counter-Reformation polyphony. More than four centuries later, Philippe Herreweghe's superb performance of the Lagrime di San Pietro proves that the work still has the power to touch the hearts of sensitive listeners.

Lassus made this setting of the Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremiah for the monastery of Benediktbeuren in 1585. In its composition, he adhered to the directive of the Council of Trent that polyphony be simplified so that the meaning of the text would not be lost in a sea of contrapuntal complexity. Lassus also retreated from the more adventurous harmonic language of his youth, and the result is a work of clarity and directness in which the words are clearly comprehensible. The nine motets that make up the piece were written to be sung on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday of Holy Week. They are consistently subdued and solemn in tone, intended for quiet meditation.

The Cantiones Sacrae are the swan-song of one of the great masters of the motet, crowning his life's work. In them, Orlande de Lassus deploys with sovereign ease the essence of his art. The complex technique of vocal polyphony he employs illuminates the nuances of the text as closely as possible. In these works, we have the ideal balance between 'head' and 'heart' - a feature found in most of the greatest artistic masterpieces. Philippe Herreweghe has long been considered one of the foremost interpreters of the music of Lassus. Here he leads his hand-picked choral ensemble, Concerto Vocale, in definitive readings of these seminal works of the Renaissance choral repertoire.

Where in their account of Palestrina’s Missa Aeterna Christi munera Summerly’s group are restrained in their devotional manner, this celebrated Mass for Christmas has them joyful and exuberant. The choir, over 30 strong, brings out both the beauty and the drama of the writing, and equally so in the brief motet setting the Christmas works. The magnificent Stabat Mater is wisely given to a smaller group of 16 singers, two to a part, with added clarity in the complex polyphony. Well coupled with one of Lassus’s best-loved Masses, Palestrina’s close contemporary from Flanders, this CD represents the work of two supreme polyphonic masters who died in the same year.

Although there are several other recordings of this set of “religious madrigals” (as Orlando di Lasso himself called these settings of texts by the Italian poet Luigi Tansillo), this one seems to most satisfyingly capture both the abundantly rich sonorities and the ardent and surprisingly consoling mood of Lasso’s music. Although the text concerns the apostle Peter’s remorse after denying his Lord three times–drawing its cue from the Biblical passage “And Peter went out, and wept bitterly”–it’s presented as a rather complex drama that dwells not on specifics of events but more on the psychological aspects of Peter’s situation, as he realizes the full depth of his betrayal and the reach of his Master’s love.