It’s Maundy Thursday again, which means it’s time for passion music!
We have become accustomed, especially in the Netherlands, to hearing Bach’s St. Matthew Passion everywhere this time of year. And if not, we hear the St. John Passion. But passion music encompasses so much more than just Bach. So today, we will listen to two concerts featuring passion music, one from the Catholic tradition and one from the Protestant tradition.
The first concert is actually for Remembrance Day. In between the vocal pieces were recitations and radio broadcasts about war violence, mainly when it affected cities. But the pieces are mostly settings of the Lamentations of Jeremiah. These plaintive texts calling for repentance were among the few that were deemed liturgically appropriate for Holy Week. That’s why they have been set time and time again.
In the second concert, we will hear music from seventeenth-century Germany. Two of the most popular and mournful psalms are featured: Psalm 130 (“Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord”) and Psalm 137 (“By the rivers of Babylon”). We will also hear a wealth of instrumental music – naturally in minor keys. In the end, the Italians come around the corner for a moment.
Playlist:
Alexander Agricola – Lamentatio Jeremiae
Jacques Arcadelt – Officium defunctorum ‘Taedet animam meam’
Christobal de Morales – Lamentatio Jeremiae (sections)
Orlando di Lasso – Feria quinta in coena Domini: Lamentationes primi diei
Johann Hermann Schein – Suite in D
Franz Tunder – An Wasserflussen Babylon
Christoph Bernard – Aus der Tieffen ruf ich zu dir
Samuel Scheidt – Suite in A
Dieterich Buxtehude – Muss der Tod denn auch entbinden
Johann Joseph Fux – Sento nel cuore
Attilio Ariosti – Prole tenera
Johann Hermann Schein – Suite in A
