, a.k.a. or , was, the textbooks say, one of the greatest composers of the late 16th century. However, for ordinary listeners, apart from a few pieces like the deliciously dark chanson , his greatness has always been a bit difficult to grasp. He wrote music, sacred and secular, in many genres and in many languages, and his art was sometimes buried in artifice and wit that aren't immediately apparent to modern listeners. So it is that this release from the small (nine singers here) choir and director , specialized though it is, sheds valuable light on what is so special about . The album inaugurates a series of six that will cover the hundred Magnificat settings wrote. All are quite short, prefaced by a piece of plainchant, and many, like many masses of the century, use what is sometimes called the parody technique, whereby the Magnificat is based on a preexisting work, often a secular one. That work becomes part of the title of the Magnificat. The models are quite varied, by composers familiar and unknown, but sample the Magnificats based on pieces by , one of the most sophisticated Italian madrigalists of the time. The adaptations are marvelously subtle; rarely quotes melodic material from the original directly, yet there is an unmistakable sense of the two pieces' relationship. and his choir bring the right transparency to this music, and even if 100 of these works sounds like a lot, it seems that those who love will find deep fascination in this and future releases; this one landed on classical best-seller charts in early 2024. ~ James Manheim