1. Orlande de Lassus (c 1530–1594): Aurora lucis rutilat
Tenderly depicting the dawn of Easter morning, leading to a double-choir celebration of the triumph of the resurrection, this motet is a unique example in Lassus’s output of Venetian polychoral technique. A late composition of the Franco-Flemish composer, it sets the Hymn for Lauds on Easter Sunday.
2. Gustav Mahler (1860–1911): Symphony No 2 ‘Resurrection’
Hearing Klopstock’s poem Die Auferstehung (The Resurrection) at the funeral of Hans von Bülow in 1894, Mahler was moved to incorporate the line “Rise again, yes, you shall rise again / My dust” as the opening to the final movement of his Second Symphony. This epic work was his first major piece to establish his view of the beauty of the resurrection and the afterlife.
3. Plainsong: Victimae paschali laudes
This beautiful, ancient plainchant (“To the Paschal victim let Christians offer up their songs of praise”) is usually attributed to the 11th century Wipo of Burgundy. One of four medieval sequences that were preserved in the Missale Romanum published in 1570 after the Council of Trent, it is one of the few still in liturgical use today.
4. Matthew Martin (b 1976): Haec dies
Haec Dies: Music for Easter – my latest recording, features this sparky new setting of the Gradual for Mass on Easter Day, which I commissioned from Matthew Martin as a counterpart to William Byrd’s much-loved motet of the same name. Martin’s rhythmic, brassy fanfares for organ and voices alternate with passages of quieter, smoother contrapuntal texture, the work closing with hushed Alleluias and a vanishing organ part.
5. JS Bach (1685–1750): Saint John Passion
The earlier of Bach’s two settings of the Easter story, the St John Passion is often seen as more compact and vivid than the later St Matthew. René Jacobs’s new, characteristically dramatic, recording of its 1749 version employs four soloists who, adding intensity, also sing with the chorus of 16 voices. Augmented by boy trebles for the chorales, this lineup makes for a thrilling performance of the baroque masterpiece.
6. Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958): Easter
Vaughan Williams, greatly inspired by the metaphysical writer George Herbert, sets five of the clergyman’s poems in his Five Mystical Songs. Easter, the opening text, reflects the poet’s connection to music, using instruments as metaphors: “His stretched sinews taught all strings / What key is best to celebrate this most high day.” The music, largely Romantic in character, is both celebratory and intimate.
7. Thomas Crecquillon (c 1505–c 1557): Congratulamini mihi
The music of this highly regarded Renaissance Netherlandish composer exudes joy in its depiction of Mary Magdalene’s encounter with the risen Christ. Following a more sombre secunda pars, where Magdalene attempts to make sense of the empty tomb, Crecquillon then repeats the music from the first section, recapturing the exuberance of the Easter story.
8. Patrick Hadley (1899–1973): My Beloved Spake
Now a pillar of the Anglican repertoire, Hadley’s anthem offers a rich, sensual musical landscape, aptly befitting this famous text from the Song of Solomon. Often performed during Eastertide, the words speak of new life and possibility: “The winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come.”
9. Jean L’Héritier (c 1480–c 1551): Surrexit pastor bonus
Describing the good shepherd who gave his life for his sheep, this poetic text has inspired many composers over the centuries. The six-part setting by Jean L’Héritier, one of a generation of notable Renaissance composers after Josquin, is undoubtedly a 16th-century masterpiece.
10. Oscar Peterson (1925–2007): Easter Suite
Though the Easter Suite is regarded by some as one of this jazz legend’s great works, it remains unknown to many still today. Commissioned by The South Bank Show and first broadcast live on Good Friday 1984, this instrumental work depicts events from the gospel story. The Peterson Trio is on top form, with Peterson in particular displaying wonderful musicianship in the last movement, He Has Risen.
• Graham Ross conducts the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge on their latest release, Haec dies: Music for Easter on Harmonia Mundi.
