''The Lamentations of Jeremiah the Prophet'' have been set by various composers.
Renaissance
England
Thomas Tallis
Thomas Tallis (23 November 1585; also Tallys or Talles) was an English composer of High Renaissance music. His compositions are primarily vocal, and he occupies a primary place in anthologies of English choral music. Tallis is considered one o ...
set the first lesson, and second lesson, of Tenebrae on
Maundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday (also known as Great and Holy Thursday, Holy and Great Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Sheer Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries, among other names) is the day during Holy Week that commemorates the Washing of the ...
between 1560, and 1569: "when the practice of making musical settings of the Holy Week readings from the Book of Jeremiah enjoyed a brief and distinguished flowering in England (the practice had developed on the continent during the early 15th century)".
The lessons are drawn from ''Lamentations'' (Lam. 1, vv.1-2, and Lam. 1, vv.3-5). These famous and notably expressive settings are both ''a'' 5 for ATTBB and employ a sophisticatedly imitative texture.
Tallis like many other composers included the following text:
* the announcements ''Incipit Lamentatio Ieremiae Prophetae'' ("Here begins the Lamentation of Jeremiah the Prophet"), and ''De Lamentatione Ieremiae Prophetae'' ("From the Lamentation of Jeremiah the Prophet");
* the Hebrew letters ALEPH, BETH, GIMEL, DALETH, and HE, that headed each verse in the Vulgate; and,
* the concluding refrain ''Ierusalem, Ierusalem, convertere ad Dominum Deum tuum'' ("
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, Jerusalem, return unto the Lord thy God").
Tallis's inclusion of the refrain emphasises the sombre and melancholy effect of the music.
The Latin
Vulgate
The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible.
The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...
Bible of Tallis's day considered the Hebrew letters integral to the text, although most English translations of the Bible omit them. The Vulgate indicates 'He' for verse 5 ''facti sunt hostes'', and ''Heth'' for verse 8 ''peccatum peccavit Hierusalem''; the Maundy Thursday Tenebrae lessons do not go as far as verse 8; but the use of 'Heth' for verse 5 by Tallis may indicate only its inclusion in contemporary liturgy.
Tallis's settings happen to use successive verses, but the pieces are in fact independent even though performers generally sing both settings together. Composers have been free to use whatever verses they wish, since the
liturgical role of the text is somewhat loose; this accounts for the wide variety of texts that appear in these pieces.
William Byrd
William Byrd (; 4 July 1623) was an English composer of late Renaissance music. Considered among the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he had a profound influence on composers both from his native England and those on the continent. He ...
's early setting of 1563 is rarely performed despite his later popularity and importance. A voice part is missing from the majority of the work as found in the only copy of the lost original manuscript and so performance editions require substantial reconstruction.
Robert White (1538-1574), a Catholic composer from East Anglia, set the ''Lamentations'' twice: ''a'' 5, and ''a'' 6. Another English setting of the Renaissance is that by
Osbert Parsley
Osbert Parsley (1510/15111585) was an English Renaissance composer and chorister. Few details of his life are known, but he evidently married in 1558, and lived for a period in the parish of St Saviour's Church, Norwich. A boy chorister at N ...
(1511-1585).
European Renaissance
Most of the continental composers of the Renaissance composed polyphonic settings of the text for use in the liturgy, including
Antoine Brumel
Antoine Brumel (c. 1460 – 1512 or 1513) was a French composer. He was one of the first renowned French members of the Franco-Flemish school of the Renaissance, and, after Josquin des Prez, was one of the most influential composers of his gene ...
,
Thomas Crecquillon
Thomas Crecquillon or Créquillon ( – probably early 1557) was a Franco-Flemish school composer of the Renaissance. While his place of birth is unknown, it was probably within the region loosely known at the time as the Low Countries, and he pro ...
,
Costanzo Festa
Costanzo Festa (c. 1485/1490 – 10 April 1545) was an Italian composer of the Renaissance. While he is best known for his madrigals, he also wrote sacred vocal music. He was the first native Italian polyphonist of international renown, and w ...
,
Marbrianus de Orto
Marbrianus de Orto (Dujardin; also Marbriano, Marbrianus) ( – January or February 1529) was a Dutch composer of the Renaissance ( Franco-Flemish school). He was a contemporary, close associate, and possible friend of Josquin des Prez, and was o ...
,
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
,
Palestrina
Palestrina (ancient ''Praeneste''; grc, Πραίνεστος, ''Prainestos'') is a modern Italian city and ''comune'' (municipality) with a population of about 22,000, in Lazio, about east of Rome. It is connected to the latter by the Via Pren ...
,
Francisco Guerrero Francisco Guerrero is the name of:
*Francisco Guerrero (composer) (1528–1599), Spanish composer of the Renaissance
* Francisco Guerrero (politician) (1811–1851), Alcalde of San Francisco
*Francisco Guerrero Marín (1951–1997), Spanish composer ...
,
Francisco de Peñalosa
Francisco de Peñalosa (c. 1470 – April 1, 1528) was a Spanish composer of the middle Renaissance.
Life
He was born in Talavera de la Reina in the province of Toledo. He spent most of his career in Seville, serving as the ''maestro di capi ...
,
Ferrabosco the Elder,
Alonso Lobo
Alonso Lobo (February 25, 1555 (baptised) – April 5, 1617) was a Spanish composer of the late Renaissance. Although not as famous as Tomás Luis de Victoria, he was highly regarded at the time, and Victoria himself considered him to be his e ...
,
Morales
Morales is a Spanish surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Alfredo Morales (born 1990), American footballer
* Alvaro Morales (disambiguation), several people
* Amado Morales (born 1947), Puerto Rican javelin thrower
* Bartolomé Mo ...
,
Pierre de la Rue
Pierre de la Rue ( – 20 November 1518) was a Franco-Flemish composer and singer of the Renaissance. His name also appears as Piersson or variants of Pierchon and his toponymic, when present, as various forms of de Platea, de Robore, or de Vico ...
,
Jean Mouton
Jean Mouton (c. 1459 – 30 October 1522) was a French composer of the Renaissance. He was famous both for his motets, which are among the most refined of the time, and for being the teacher of Adrian Willaert, one of the founders of the Ve ...
, Bernhard Ycart,
Tinctoris
Jehan le Taintenier or Jean Teinturier (Latinised as Johannes Tinctoris; also Jean de Vaerwere; – 1511) was a Renaissance music theorist and composer from the Low Countries. Up to his time, he is perhaps the most significant European writer ...
,
Johannes de Quadris
Johannes de Quadris (Quatris) (before 1410 – 1457?) was an Italian composer of the early Renaissance. He was one of the first composers of polyphony associated with the basilica of St. Mark's in Venice, and the earliest known composer to ...
,
Bartolomeo Tromboncino
Bartolomeo Tromboncino (c. 1470 – 1535 or later) was an Italian composer of the middle Renaissance. He is mainly famous as a composer of '' frottole''; he is principally infamous for murdering his wife. He was born in Verona and died in or ...
, Gaspar, Francesco d’Ana, Erasmus Lapicida,
Antoine de Févin
Antoine de Févin (ca. 1470 – late 1511 or early 1512) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. He was active at the same time as Josquin des Prez, and shares many traits with his more famous contemporary.
Life
Févin was most likely b ...
,
Alexander Agricola
Alexander Agricola (; born Alexander Ackerman; – 15 August 1506) was a Netherlandish composer of the Renaissance writing in the Franco-Flemish style. A prominent member of the ''Grande chapelle'', the Habsburg musical establishment, he wa ...
,
Jacques Arcadelt
Jacques Arcadelt (also Jacob Arcadelt; 14 October 1568) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance, active in both Italy and France, and principally known as a composer of secular vocal music. Although he also wrote sacred vocal music, he wa ...
and
Lassus
Orlande de Lassus ( various other names; probably – 14 June 1594) was a composer of the late Renaissance. The chief representative of the mature polyphonic style in the Franco-Flemish school, Lassus stands with Giovanni Pierluigi da Palest ...
(1584). Of the more obscure composers here, some of these, along with others by even shadowier composers, survive in
Petrucci's 1506 two volumes of collected Lamentations and the 1532 anthology edition by Carpentras.
Baroque
Leçons de ténèbres
Leçons de ténèbres ( 'lessons of darkness'; sometimes spelled Leçons des ténèbres) is a genre of French Baroque music which developed from the polyphonic lamentations settings for the tenebrae service of Renaissance composers such as Serm ...
are a French chamber solo style most famously represented by the lessons and
responsories
A responsory or respond is a type of chant in western Christian liturgies.
Definition
The most general definition of a responsory is any psalm, canticle, or other sacred musical work sung responsorially, that is, with a cantor or small group si ...
of
Marc-Antoine Charpentier
Marc-Antoine Charpentier (; 1643 – 24 February 1704) was a French Baroque composer during the reign of Louis XIV. One of his most famous works is the main theme from the prelude of his ''Te Deum'', ''Marche en rondeau''. This theme is still us ...
, and the
Leçons de ténèbres of Nicolas Bernier,
Jean Gilles,
Michel Richard Delalande
Michel Richard Delalande e Lalande'' (; 15 December 1657 – 18 June 1726) was a French Baroque composer and organist who was in the service of King Louis XIV. He was one of the most important composers of grands motets. He also wrote orch ...
,
Michel Lambert Michel Lambert (1610 – 29 June 1696) was a French singing master, theorbist and composer.
Career
Lambert was born at Champigny-sur-Veude, France. He received his musical education as an altar boy at the Chapel of Gaston d'Orléans, a brother of ...
,
François Couperin
François Couperin (; 10 November 1668 – 11 September 1733) was a French Baroque composer, organist and harpsichordist. He was known as ''Couperin le Grand'' ("Couperin the Great") to distinguish him from other members of the musically talented ...
. The high baroque Central European style also includes choral and orchestral settings of lamentations by composers such as
Jan Dismas Zelenka
Jan Dismas Zelenka (16 October 1679 – 23 December 1745), baptised Jan Lukáš Zelenka was a Czech composer and musician of the Baroque period. His music is admired for its harmonic inventiveness and mastery of counterpoint.
Zelenka was rais ...
.
Modern
Contemporary settings include those by
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...
(his ''
Threni)'',
Edward Bairstow
Sir Edward Cuthbert Bairstow (22 August 18741 May 1946) was an English organist and composer in the Anglican church music tradition.
Life and career
Bairstow was born in Trinity Street, Huddersfield in 1874. His grandfather Oates Bairstow was ...
,
Alberto Ginastera
Alberto Evaristo Ginastera (; April 11, 1916June 25, 1983) was an Argentinian composer of classical music. He is considered to be one of the most important 20th-century classical composers of the Americas.
Biography
Ginastera was born in Buen ...
,
Ernst Krenek
Ernst Heinrich Krenek (, 23 August 1900 – 22 December 1991) was an Austrian, later American, composer of Czech origin. He explored atonality and other modern styles and wrote a number of books, including ''Music Here and Now'' (1939), a study ...
and
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...
(his Jeremiah Symphony, which contains Hebrew text in the final movement).
Matthew Hunter, a viola soloist at the Berlin Philharmonic, set the Tallis Lamentations to be played by an ensemble of
Stradivari
Antonio Stradivari (, also , ; – 18 December 1737) was an Italian luthier and a craftsman of string instruments such as violins, cellos, guitars, violas and harps. The Latinized form of his surname, ''Stradivarius'', as well as the colloquia ...
violins, violas and violoncellos. The arrangement is fo
two antiphonally set string quintets The group plays this piece only a couple of times every two years, when they can get the instruments together.
Matthew Hunter
/ref>
Clamavi de Profundis has set Lamentations 1:10-14 and 2:12-15 to music, in Latin.
Selected recordings
* Marc-Antoine Charpentier
Marc-Antoine Charpentier (; 1643 – 24 February 1704) was a French Baroque composer during the reign of Louis XIV. One of his most famous works is the main theme from the prelude of his ''Te Deum'', ''Marche en rondeau''. This theme is still us ...
:
** ''Leçons de Ténèbres, Office du Mercredi Saint,'' H 117, H 120, H 138, H 131, H 126, H141, H 173, ''Office du Jeudi Saint,'' H 121, H 139, H 136, H144, H 128, H 528, H 510, H 521'', Office du Vendredi Saint,'' H 95, H 99, H 100, H 140, H 133, H 130. Il Seminario Musicale, Gérard Lesne
Gérard Lesne (; born 15 July 1956) is a French countertenor. He is also the founder and artistic director of the baroque music ensemble, Il Seminario Musicale.
Life and career
Gérard Lesne was born in Montmorency, Val-d'Oise. He was originall ...
. Virgin Classics 1995. Diapason d'Or
The Diapason d'Or (French for "Golden Tuning Fork") is a recommendation of outstanding (mostly) classical music recordings given by reviewers of '' Diapason'' magazine in France, broadly equivalent to "Editor's Choice", "Disc of the Month" in the ...
** ''Leçons de Ténèbres, Office du Mercredi Saint,'' H 96, H 97, H 98, H 111, H 112, H 113, ''Office du Jeudi Saint,'' H 102, H 103, H 109''; Office du Vendredi Saint,'' H 105, H 106, H 110 - Judith Nelson
Judith Anne Nelson, née Manes (10 September 1939 – 28 May 2012) was an American soprano, noted for her performances of baroque music at the beginning of the "early music revival" of the 1970s and 1980s.
Nelson was born in Evanston, Illino ...
, Anne Verkinderen (sopranos), René Jacobs, Concerto Vocale René Jacobs
René Jacobs (born 30 October 1946) is a Belgian musician. He came to fame as a countertenor, but later in his career he became known as a conductor of baroque and classical opera.
Biography Countertenor
Born in Ghent, Jacobs began his music ...
, dir. Harmonia Mundi 1979 Diapason d'or
** ''Leçons de Ténèbres,'' H 96, H 97, H 98/108, H 102, H 103, H 106, H 105, H 109, H 110, H 100 a - Anne Marie Rodde, Sonia Nigoghossian, Helen Watts
Helen Watts (7 December 19277 October 2009) was a Welsh contralto.
Early life
Helen Josephine Watts was born in Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, Wales. Her father was a pharmacist, Tom Watts and moved to live above his shop at 26 Market Street, Ha ...
, Clara Virz, La Grande Écurie et La Chambre du Roy, dir Jean Claude Malgoire. CBS 1978
** ''Leçons de Ténèbres,'' H120, H 121, H 122, H 123, H 124, H 125, H 135, H 136, H 137; Howard Crook, Luc de Meulenaere, haute-contres; Jan Caals, Harry Ruyl, ténors; Michel Verschaeve, basse taille; Kurt Widmer, basse; Musica Polyphonica, dir Louis Devos. Erato 1984.
* François Couperin
François Couperin (; 10 November 1668 – 11 September 1733) was a French Baroque composer, organist and harpsichordist. He was known as ''Couperin le Grand'' ("Couperin the Great") to distinguish him from other members of the musically talented ...
:
** ''Office des Ténèbres de la Semaine Sainte, 3 Leçons de Ténèbres du Mercredy'', Il Seminario Musicale, Gérard Lesne. Harmonic records Cantus. 1993 Diapason d’or
** Hasnaa Bennani, Isabelle Druet, Claire Lefilliâtre (sopranos), Vincent Dumestre, Le Poème Harmonique, Alpha 2014.
* Michel Richard Delalande
Michel Richard Delalande e Lalande'' (; 15 December 1657 – 18 June 1726) was a French Baroque composer and organist who was in the service of King Louis XIV. He was one of the most important composers of grands motets. He also wrote orch ...
:
** Claire Lefilliâtre (soprano), Vincent Dumestre, Le Poème Harmonique, Alpha 2002.
** Sophie Karthäuser
Sophie Karthäuser (born May 1974) is a Belgian operatic soprano. She has performed internationally, especially in roles by Mozart such as Ilia in ''Idomeneo'' and Pamina in ''The Magic Flute''. She is also a recitalist, performing and recording ...
(soprano), Sébastien Daucé Sébastien Daucé is a French conductor, born in Rennes (France) on 4 June 1980. He is artistic director and founder of Ensemble Correspondences, formed from alumni of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Lyon.Michel Lambert Michel Lambert (1610 – 29 June 1696) was a French singing master, theorbist and composer.
Career
Lambert was born at Champigny-sur-Veude, France. He received his musical education as an altar boy at the Chapel of Gaston d'Orléans, a brother of ...
:
** ''Neuf Leçons de Ténèbres'', Ivete Piveteau, direction, Noemi Rime, soprano, Nathalie Stutzmann, contralto, Charles Brett, haute-contre, Howard Crook, ténor, Virgin classics 1989
** ''Neuf leçons de Ténèbres, Marc Mauillon, Myriam Rigol, viole de gamme, Roussel Thibaut, luth, Mankar-Bennis, clavecin. CD'' Harmonia Mundi 2018
See also
* Tenebrae
Tenebrae (—Latin for "darkness") is a religious service of Western Christianity held during the three days preceding Easter Day, and characterized by gradual extinguishing of candles, and by a "strepitus" or "loud noise" taking place in total ...
service
* Responsories for Holy Week
Tenebrae responsories are the responsories sung following the lessons of Tenebrae, the Matins services of the last three days of Holy Week: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. Polyphonic settings to replace plainchant have been publis ...
References
{{Thomas Tallis, state=open
Jeremiah
Book of Lamentations
Tenebrae