Ernst Krenek - Lamentatio Jeremiæ Prophetæ, I

Lamentatio Jeremiæ Prophetæ: Secundum Brevarium Sacrosanctæ Ecclesiæ Romanæ for mixed chorus, op.93 (1941)
1. In coena Domini (Maundy Thursday)
I. Lectio prima
II. Lectio secunda
III. Lectio tertia
2. In Parasceve (Good Friday)
IV. Lectio prima
V. Lectio secunda
VI. Lectio tertia
3. In Sabbato Sancto (Holy Saturday)
VII. Lectio prima
VIII. Lectio secunda
IX. Lectio tertia
RIAS Kammerchor
Marcus Creed
The Lamentatio Jeremiae Prophetae for chorus, Op. 93, by Austrian American composer Ernst Krenek is, on the one hand, one of the most austere and severe works composed in the twentieth century, and on the other hand, one of the most emotionally and spiritually moving works of the twentieth century. Written in November 1941 when Krenek was living in exile in the United States, having left his beloved Austria after the rise of the National Socialists, Krenek's Lamentatio Jeremiae Prophetae (Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremiae) is a elegy for his lost homeland couched in the language of the Biblical prophet's lament for the fall of Jerusalem. Krenek had been studying the music of Ockeghem, and his Lamentatio is steeped in the linear counterpoint and floating rhythm of the late medieval period. At the same time, however, Krenek's harmonic language was suffused with the serial method of Schoenberg and the combination of the influences of Ockeghem and Schoenberg can be heard in every bar of the work. Setting texts he chose himself from the Book of Jeremiah, Krenek's a cappella work is arranged in three large sections that are subdivided into smaller subsections. The choral writing ranges from monody to 20 separate parts, but it is nevertheless always clear and lucid. [allmusic.com]
Art by Rembrandt

[@mousehitscat]

one of the rare pieces of contemporary classical music I can really get into and appreciate

[@haotianyu6368]

This is some of the most superb music I have ever heard...

[@pelodelperro]

Glad you liked it. There's more Krenek on my channel. Thanks for commenting.

[@alexwarstadt6191]

Right up there with Tallis, Lassus, and Couperin for the best Lamentations. I only wish Krenek had written more like this.

[@artofmusic303]

Excellent performance. The writing is very vocal-friendly, in accordance with Renaissance melodic practices, and the simultaneities are mostly easy on the ears. A successful synthesis of styles.

[@paulamrod537]

Listen to this glorious organic 20th century expansion from the 19th. He is for me a wonderful discovery. I never received the whereabouts of his music outside of KZbin. Shame on my professors. Only Schönberg Webern and Berg.

[@stueystuey1962]

as i reported elsewhere i had a couple of CD's of Krenek and always felt guilty listening to them- like I was cheating on the more important composers. Krenek ranks way up there on the chart of masters.

[@Tfrne]

For what it's worth, this is a 12-tone piece, too. Krenek just uses a series that implies diatonic modes and then augments them with a process called rotation (rather than development by transposition, inversion and retrograde like you see in the music of Schoenberg). This piece is closer to Stravinsky's serialism than any late Romantic music.

[@levmyshkin68]

Wow. Just...wow.

[@interglossa]

Thank you so much for this. I was aware that this work inspired Stravinsky's Threni but had not heard it.

[@WarriorStatue]

Amazing, sounds like Carlo Gesualdo on acid!

[@giloubreizh]

Il n'y a aucun espoir en cette souffrance.