Well, here it is. The chapel in the Imperial Residence in which much of Orlando di Lasso's music was originally performed. (The picture is a bit dark as they do not allow flash photos. Still, if you double click to enlarge it, you can get some idea.) Fr. Skeris told me that this chapel was an early example of a choir loft. So the very spot from which I took the picture could have been the very spot from which he stood - directing the singers (take careful note Christendom Choristers!). I should add that the Residenz was bombed also during WWII and reconstructed meticulously. So, I am not sure if the chapel itself consists of the original wood and marble or reconstructed wood and marble in the exact same place and pattern as the old - anyway it was still quite a thrill.
He was originally hired by Duke Albrecht V who was quite devout, so there was a daily morning Mass and evening Vespers which everyone in the court was required to attend. He was a very prolific composer and needed to be. Lassus had held the position of director at St. John Lateran in Rome just before Palestrina took over and then ultimately moved to Munich when hired by Duke Albrecht. He had come from Belgium (his real name was "Roland," "Orlando" is an Italianization) and had been all over Europe - even to England - before finally settling in Bavaria where he spent the rest of his life. He married a German woman and had six children. Three of his sons became musicians. Interestingly he suffered from severe depression the last ten years of his life - something that we melancholic creative types can suffer from. I am very sympathetic to the man.
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