Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

The eye-catching sleeve artwork, 'The Wedding at Cana' by Paolo Veronese sets the scene very well as this is bright, colourful music written for wedding services. Leonhard Lechner (c 1553-1606) is a new name to this reviewer but, in my defence, he is probably not well known anywhere today, except, perhaps in South Tyrol. He was possibly a pupil of Orlando di Lasso whose brief "Domine, Dominus noster" serves as an overture for this collection and which is then echoed and expanded in Lechner's own "Missa super Domine, Dominus noster". The centrepiece of the disc is "Quid chaos", a dialogue between Cupid, Chaos, God and Mankind from 1582. This is an intricate work for 24 voices and listeners who have enjoyed 'Spem in Alium' by Thomas Tallis or Allesandro Striggio's 'Mass in 40 Parts' will like this too. Most of the pieces in this collection were written for important weddings where the wealthy enjoyed showing off their status: no traditional wedding march for these people - the music had to be new and specially composed for the occasion and Lechner was one who was willing and able to oblige. As a composer Lechner has drifted into obscurity so we are grateful to Wilfried Rombach for bringing him to our attention. Ensemble Officium sing well although some of the brass fanfares were a little strident for my taste but, no doubt, they served a purpose back when the music was commissioned. Yes, this is obscure but those who enjoy exploring the lesser-known byways of musical history may well enjoy what is on offer here.

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