Maundy Thursday, the fifth day of Holy Week, is one of the most solemn days in the Christian liturgical calendar, the day on which believers celebrate the Washing of the Feet and the Last Supper. This is the moment at which the darkness really begins to gather; Jesus speaks of his coming betrayal and institutes liturgical and covenantal practices that he admonishes his disciples to continue observing after his death. Accordingly, the musical settings that Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina created for these lamentational texts is deeply somber and reflective; the singing by the all-male Cinquecento ensemble on this recording is sober and beautiful.