On this episode we share several examples of baroque music, which have been especially composed for the Holy week leading up to Easter.
It has been a centuries-old tradition in the Roman Catholic Church that three sets of Jeremiah’s Lamentations are sung early in the morning during the so-called Dark Matins in Holy Week.
The prophet’s book describes the destruction of the city of Jerusalem in 587 BC, and each verse is preceded by a letter from the Hebrew alphabet.
We will be listening to parts of Michel Lambert’s ‘Leçons des Ténèbres’, Nicolò Jommelli’s ‘Le Lamentazioni del profeta Geremia’, as well as those of Jan Zach.
Michel Lambert (ca. 1610-1696)
1. From ‘Leçons de Ténèbres’ for Maundy Thursday: the first Leçon
Performers: Marc Mauillon, baritone, Myriam Rignol, viola da gamba, Thibaut Roussel, theorbo, and Marouan Mankar-Bennis, harpsichord
(CD label: Harmonia Mundi no. 902363.64)
Nicolò Jommelli (1714-1774)
2. From ‘Le Lamentazioni del profeta Geremia per il Mercoledi Santo’: Lamentazione terza
Performers: Gérard Lesne, countertenor. Il Seminario Musicale
(CD label: Virgin Classics no. 6286282)
Jan Zach (1713-1773)
3. ‘Lamentationes Jeremiae’ for the Good Friday Early Matins
Performers: Vokalensemble Novocanto and Tiroler Barockinstrumentalisten conducted by Wolfgang Kostner
(CD label: MusikMuseum no. CD13016)
Addition:
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
4. “O Lamm Gottes, Unschuldig”, BWV 656
Performers: Concentus Vocalis Griesensis conducted by Urban Stillhard
(CD label: Stradivarius no. STR 337754
Pictured: Jeremiah door Michelangelo (Sistine Chapel, Vatican)
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