At the beginning of the 17th century the Brussels court experienced an extraordinary cultural splendour thanks to the Archdukes Albert and Isabella Clara Eugenia, during a period of peace and prosperity in the Southern Low Countries under Spanish Habsburg rule. The sovereigns, who were great collectors and patronized artists such as Brueghel de Velours and Rubens, maintained a magnificent musical chapel with a substantial number of Spanish, Italian and English musicians. It was in this context that the work of the Zaragoza native Pedro Ruimonte unfolded. Master of chamber music under the Archdukes, his Parnaso español (1614) represents one of the capstones in the history of Spanish music.

The Officium defunctorum by Tomás Luis de Victoria, published in 1605, is one of the masterworks of the musical Renaissance, which still moves us with its austerity and expressive power. It was written in the style of a swansong for the funeral rites of the composers patroness, the empress Maria of Austria, sister of Philip II and widow of the emperor Maximilian II. For the first time in a recording, La Grande Chapelle and Schola Antiqua place the work in its liturgical context, restoring the two original days: the vigil for the dead and the mass which concludes with the rite of absolution.