Two beautiful Requiems from two starkly different time periods, they share a calm and etherial atmosphere. The first, by Victoria, is a setting of the Office of the Dead written in 1603 (published in 1605) upon the death of Archduchess Maria of Austria, Holy Roman Empress, and wife of Maximilian II. It is considered one of choral music’s great masterpieces, and in its steady progression, alternating the simplicity of plainchant with the intricacy of six part polyphony, it creates a sublime and hypnotic atmosphere…