Ensemble Doulce Mémoire - Agostini - Lasso

Orlando di Lasso, Lagrime di San Pietro. Lodovico Agostini, Le lagrime del Peccatore. In sweet memory of Denis Raisin Dadre.

A "legendary" work within the already rich repertoire of Renaissance polyphony, the Tears of Saint Peter is Roland de Lassus's ultimate monument, completed in 1594, the very year of his death.

At the twilight of his life, the great master delivers a sublime lament combining contrapuntal mastery with the direct expressiveness that is his trademark.

It's true that the Gospel episode of Saint Peter's Denial, turning his back on Christ, offers poetic possibilities of incomparable force. Another composer, Lodovico Agostini, left an equally moving score a few years earlier, The Tears of the Sinner.

In a poignant coincidence, like Lassus, Agostini finished his masterpiece in the year of his own death (1586). This programme is the last one Denis Raisin Dadre saw through to completion at the helm of Doulce Mémoire, before he passed away in September 2025.

One could not imagine a more moving tribute from an ensemble to its founder and leader.