How did com­posers such as Lassus, Gombert and Byrd respond on the aware­ness of their own mor­tal­i­ty and that of their patrons? Their com­po­si­tions speak vol­umes and are alter­nat­ed by the singers of Stile Antico with the dif­fer­ent parts of the requiem chant. The cen­tre­piece of this con­cert is John Sheppard’s Media Vita, one of the high­lights of English polyphony.

Media vita