Lamentations (music)
Encyclopedia
The Lamentations of Jeremiah the Prophet have been set by various composers.
made two famous sets of the Lamentations. Scored for five voices (either one on a part or in a choral context), they show a sophisticated use of imitation, and are noted for their expressiveness. The settings are of the first two lessons for Maundy Thursday
. As many other composers do, Tallis also sets the following:
Tallis's two 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
's setting is rarely performed despite his popularity and importance, not only because it appears very early in his output (he seems to have been about 20 when he wrote it and not very experienced as a composer), but also because the surviving copy is missing a voice part for much of its duration, requiring substantial editorial reconstruction.
Other settings include those by Robert White
,
, Palestrina
, Ferrabosco the Elder
and the last Lassus
(1584),
are a French chamber solo style most famously represented by the lessons and responsories of Marc-Antoine Charpentier
and the Leçons de ténèbres of Couperin
. The high baroque Central European style also includes choral and orchestral settings of lamentations by composers such as Jan Dismas Zelenka
.
(his Threni
), Edward Bairstow
, Alberto Ginastera
, Ernst Krenek
, Leonard Bernstein
(his Jeremiah Symphony, which contains Hebrew text in the final movement) and Peter-Anthony Togni
.
England
Thomas TallisThomas Tallis
Thomas Tallis was an English composer. Tallis flourished as a church musician in 16th century Tudor England. He occupies a primary place in anthologies of English church music, and is considered among the best of England's early composers. He is honoured for his original voice in English...
made two famous sets of the Lamentations. Scored for five voices (either one on a part or in a choral context), they show a sophisticated use of imitation, and are noted for their expressiveness. The settings are of the first two lessons for Maundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday, also known as Holy Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Great & Holy Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries, is the Christian feast or holy day falling on the Thursday before Easter that commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles as described in the Canonical gospels...
. As many other composers do, Tallis also sets the following:
- The announcements: Incipit Lamentatio Ieremiae Prophetae ("The Lamentation of Jeremiah the Prophet begins") and De Lamentatione Ieremiae Prophetae ("From the Lamentation of Jeremiah the Prophet")
- The Hebrew letters that headed each verse: AlephAleph* Aleph or Alef is the first letter of the Semitic abjads descended from Proto-Canaanite, Arabic alphabet, Phoenician alphabet, Hebrew alphabet, Syriac alphabet-People:*Aleph , an Italo disco artist and alias of Dave Rodgers...
, BethBet (letter)Bet, Beth, Beh, or Vet is the second letter of many Semitic abjads, including Arabic alphabet , Aramaic, Hebrew , Phoenician and Syriac...
for the first set; Gimel, DaletDaletDalet is the fourth letter of many Semitic alphabets, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew , Syriac and Arabic...
h, HethHe (letter)He is the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets, including Phoenician , Aramaic, Hebrew , Syriac and Arabic . Its sound value is a voiceless glottal fricative ....
for the second - The concluding refrain: Ierusalem, Ierusalem, convertere ad Dominum Deum tuum ("Jerusalem, Jerusalem, return unto the Lord thy God") – thus emphasising the sombre and melancholy effect of the pieces
Tallis's two 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
William Byrd was an English composer of the Renaissance. He wrote in many of the forms current in England at the time, including various types of sacred and secular polyphony, keyboard and consort music.-Provenance:Knowledge of Byrd's biography expanded in the late 20th century, thanks largely...
's setting is rarely performed despite his popularity and importance, not only because it appears very early in his output (he seems to have been about 20 when he wrote it and not very experienced as a composer), but also because the surviving copy is missing a voice part for much of its duration, requiring substantial editorial reconstruction.
Other settings include those by Robert White
Robert White (composer)
Robert White probably born in Holborn, a district of London, was a catholic English composer whose liturgical music to Latin texts is considered particularly fine...
,
European Renaissance
Renaissance polyphonic settings include those by VictoriaTomás Luis de Victoria
Tomás Luis de Victoria, sometimes Italianised as da Vittoria , was the most famous composer of the 16th century in Spain, and one of the most important composers of the Counter-Reformation, along with Giovanni da Palestrina and Orlando di Lasso. Victoria was not only a composer, but also an...
, Palestrina
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina was an Italian Renaissance composer of sacred music and the best-known 16th-century representative of the Roman School of musical composition...
, Ferrabosco the Elder
Alfonso Ferrabosco (I)
Alfonso Ferrabosco was an Italian composer. While mostly famous as the solitary Italian madrigalist working in England, and the one mainly responsible for the growth of the madrigal there, he also composed much sacred music...
and the last Lassus
Orlande de Lassus
Orlande de Lassus was a Franco-Flemish composer of the late Renaissance...
(1584),
Baroque
Leçons de ténèbresLeçons de ténèbres
Leçons de ténèbres, literally lessons of darkness, are a genre of French baroque music which developed from the polyphonic lamentations settings for the tenebrae service of Renaissance composers such as Sermisy, Gesualdo, Tallis, and Tomás Luis de Victoria into virtuoso solo chamber...
are a French chamber solo style most famously represented by the lessons and responsories of Marc-Antoine Charpentier
Marc-Antoine Charpentier
Marc-Antoine Charpentier, , was a French composer of the Baroque era.Exceptionally prolific and versatile, he produced compositions of the highest quality in several genres...
and the Leçons de ténèbres of Couperin
Leçons de ténèbres (Couperin)
The Leçons de ténèbres pour le mercredi saint are a series of three vocal pieces composed by François Couperin for the liturgies of Holy Week, 1714, at the Abbaye royale de Longchamp...
. The high baroque Central European style also includes choral and orchestral settings of lamentations by composers such as Jan Dismas Zelenka
Jan Dismas Zelenka
Jan Dismas Zelenka , baptised Jan Lukáš Zelenka and previously also known as Johann Dismas Zelenka, was the most important Czech Baroque composer, whose music was notably daring with outstanding harmonic invention and mastery of counterpoint.- Life :Zelenka was born in Louňovice pod Blaníkem, a small...
.
Modern
Contemporary settings include those by Igor StravinskyIgor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
(his Threni
Threni (Stravinsky)
Threni: id est Lamentationes Jeremiae Prophetae, usually referred to simply as Threni, is a setting by Igor Stravinsky of verses from the Book of Lamentations in the Latin of the Vulgate, for solo singers, chorus and orchestra. It is important in Stravinsky's output as his first and longest...
), Edward Bairstow
Edward Bairstow
Sir Edward Cuthbert Bairstow was born in Huddersfield on 22 August 1874 and died in York on 1 May 1946. He was an English organist and composer in the Anglican church music tradition....
, Alberto Ginastera
Alberto Ginastera
Alberto Evaristo Ginastera was an Argentine composer of classical music. He is considered one of the most important Latin American classical composers.- Biography :...
, Ernst Krenek
Ernst Krenek
Ernst Krenek was an Austrian of Czech origin and, from 1945, American composer. He explored atonality and other modern styles and wrote a number of books, including Music Here and Now , a study of Johannes Ockeghem , and Horizons Circled: Reflections on my Music...
, Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
(his Jeremiah Symphony, which contains Hebrew text in the final movement) and Peter-Anthony Togni
Peter Togni
Peter Anthony Togni is a freelance Canadian composer and broadcaster based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. "Togni's music is deeply felt, simply put, well-crafted and irradiated by a personal sense of the divine."-Biography:...
.