Cristóbal de Morales (c.1500-1553) was the first Spanish composer to enjoy an international reputation. Born in Seville, he started as a choirmaster at Ávila and then Plasencia cathedrals, before being appointed to the Papal Choir in Rome by Pope Paul III in 1535. He stayed in the city for ten years, publishing eight Magnificats and fifteen Masses. On his return to Spain he took up a series of prominent choirmasterships, but ill health and a surly disposition meant he never stayed anywhere long, and he died (probably from malaria) in 1553.

Morales’ Masses are his greatest achievement, but his Magnificats were more popular in his lifetime. In this concert the men of De Profundis perform the Magnificat primi toni, and extracts from both Morales’ most famous work, Missa Mille regretz, and the less well known Missa Desilde al cavallero, probably written in his youth in Spain. Both the Masses are based on secular songs: Desilde al cavallero, a popular Spanish love-song, and Mille regretz, one of Josquin Desprez’s greatest hits.

The concert also marks the start of an ambitious 11-year project by De Profundis to perform and record the complete Masses and Magnificats by Morales, conducted by Robert Hollingworth and Eamonn Dougan.

Formed in 2011, De Profundis is Cambridge's male voice early music ensemble. The choir has recorded three CDs of Spanish Renaisance sacred music for Hyperion and has toured to Madrid, Avila, and Salamanca.

Robert Hollingworth is the founder-director of I Fagiolini, an award-winning group renowned for its innovative staged productions of vocal music from the Renaissance to the present day. He combines running the group with teaching at the University of York, where he is a Reader in Music.

Eamonn Dougan is a renowned baritone who sings regularly with the Sixteen, I Fagiolini and Alamire. He is also Associate Conductor of the Sixteen, founding Director of Britten Sinfonia Voices, and a Visiting Professor to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he teaches ensemble singing.