Far from being a simple juxtaposition, this programme illustrates the evolution of sacred vocal writing. At the time of Victoria and Lobo, Spain shone in Europe thanks to its religious music, conceived for the splendour of cathedrals and royal courts. A century later, Bach, in a more intimate Lutheran context, infused this polyphonic tradition with a new dimension, combining personal expression and spiritual meditation.

Among the jewels in the programme, Alonso Lobo's Versa est in Luctum reaches a peak of intensity: composed for the funeral of King Philip II in 1598, it unfolds a musical lament of poignant beauty. Bach's cantata Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit (BWV 106), known as Actus Tragicus, responds with luminous serenity, affirming that God's time is always the best.

The great organ, sometimes accompanist, sometimes soloist, dialogues with the voices, deploying all its colours to sublimate the contrasts of this fresco of sound. The listener is invited on a journey through time and space, carried by the power and grace of a music where Spanish fervour meets German rigour, doubt meets hope, lament meets light.