Lamentations of Jeremiah the Prophet (Tallis)

The Lamentations make up two settings, I and II, in the newer Caroline set of the Peterhouse Partbooks.^[2] I and II were likely intended to be sung separately but modern performers sometimes sing the two settings together, as the texts are succeeding verses of the Book of Lamentations.^[3] Tallis' Lamentations are part of a larger oeuvre of Lamentations settings produced by other English Catholic sympathisers (White, Byrd), for private home worship.^[4]

In the Victorian period, a revival in Tallis' music began and the Lamentations had a great appeal.^[5] In modern times, they are some of the most famous works by Tallis and among the most performed musical settings of the Lamentations.^[6] The first setting is a key piece of the Tallis Scholars repertoire.^[7]

Lamentations of Jeremiah the Prophet I

A setting of Lamentations 1

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I and II are composed in two different modes and are generally in the new, highly-imitative Elizabethan style that had succeeded the older English votive style.^[3] The counterpoint is more austere than that of continental composers.^[8] However Commentators have remarked on how the Lamentations demonstrate Tallis' economy of means in composing less ornate polyphony in favour of textual clarity, word-painting and introspection.^[9][10] A tonal shift at the second "Plorans ploravit" (in I) create pathos, while successive cross-relations at "virgines eius squalidae" (in II) express indignation.^[3] At the final "convertere" verse in which Jeremiah prays for the restoration of Jerusalem, repetition of "Jerusalem" and frequent suspensions convey textual anguish.^[11]