It is extraordinary that a collection of notes scratched on extant manuscripts can erase half a millennium of science and art, war and pestilence, taking us back to simpler and more innocent times devoid of the complex layers of the 21st century.

The Song Company achieves this rewind in its Underground program, Rumours of Glory, performed by soprano Roberta Diamond (Principal Artist), mezzo-soprano Hannah Fraser (Emeriti Artist) and baritone Hayden Barrington (Associate Artist). Principal Artist and tenor Dan Walker was indisposed and was replaced at the last minute by Artistic Director Antony Pitts (ably assisted at times, by mezzo-soprano Hannah Fraser), who now has the dual role of singer and performance director. We hear harmony in its infancy, yet daringly, challengingly adventurous and sophisticated. This collection of the ancient and the modern, has many facets, but one of the most exciting reveals is the sound of chromaticism in its many colours. The two masterpieces of the Renaissance, Orlande de Lassus’ Prophetiae Sibyllarum and Josquin des Prez’s final mass, the Missa Pange lingua, are bookended by two pieces from contemporary Australian composers, Romano Crivici and Heather Percy.