G.PierLuigi da PALESTRINA (1525-1596)
The lamentations for Holy Week
The complete liturgical cycle of the Lamentations consists of nine lessons to be sung during Holy Week (three a day on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, respectively). The lessons are based on biblical texts taken from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah. The importance of the services during Holy Week, and in particular of these three days (the “sacred triduum”), in the liturgy of the Counter-Reformation induced the majority of composers of the time to try their hand at such texts. Composers who set celebrated cycles of lamentations for Holy Week include Genet detto Carpentras (composer of the Papal Chapel), Brumel, the English composer Thomas Tallis, Jacobus Gallus from Slovenia, the German composer Orlando di Lasso, and the Spaniard Tomas Luis de Victoria.