Ernst Krenek - Lamentatio Jeremiæ Prophetæ, II

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 Marc Chagall

[@77CHArts]

Wow this is such a great piece - came to it as a result of reading Thomas Mann's Faustus (Leverkuhn's The Lamentation of Dr Faustus might be based on this). Stunning performance. Well done.