Bernhard Ycart (15. Jh.):
Lamentationes Hieremia Propheta

Heinrich Isaac (Ca. 1450-1517):
Proprium de Sancta Cruce (aus Choralis Constantinus)

Josquin Desprez (Ca. 1440-1521):
Miserere mei Deus (Psalm 50)

Good Friday has indisputably been one of the greatest sources of inspiration for composers of all eras of music history. Masterly Renaissance compositions for the Roman liturgy, Bach’s Passions, the motets of Anton Bruckner and even Wagner’s Parsifal with its “Good Friday Spell” are just a few examples. A particular tradition evolved from the musical treatment of the mourning masses and nocturnal vigils of the Sacrum Triduum, the Thursday of the Last Supper (Feria quinta in coena Domini), Good Friday (Feria sexta in parasceve) and Holy Saturday (Sabbatum sanctum).

In remembrance of the death of Jesus, the lections for the nightly vigils of these three days include the Lamentations of the prophet Jeremiah, written against the historical background of the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem by King Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC.

From the beginning of the 16th century until well into the 18th century, the setting of these “Lamentationes” and their responses represented one of the most important forms of Catholic sacred music. Some of the finest works in this genre were composed by Tomás Luis de Victoria (Officium hebdomada sancta, 1585), Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (Lamentationes Hieremia Propheta, 1588), Orlande de Lassus (1585) and Carlo Gesualdo di Venosa.