Voicing: Baritone solo and mixed voice (SATB) choir
Instrumentation: Strings and percussion (1 player - timps, tambourine, antique cymbals, triangle, mark tree)
Duration: 35 minutes
Written in: June 2025
 
A setting, in eight movements, of text from the biblical Book of Lamentations.
 
PLEASE NOTE - THIS IS A FREE DOWNLOAD FOR INSPECTION ONLY. If you wish to purchase a PDF for making multiple copies, please go to the Songs of Lamentation product page. Thank you  
 
Ian writes:
"The Book of Lamentations, known in Hebrew as Eikhah is part of the section of the Hebrew Bible called Writings which laments the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem during the 6th century BCE, along with the exile of the tribe of Judah. Authorship of the book is attributed to the prophet Jeremiah.
 
Lamentations is read as part of Synagogue services during the Jewish festival of Tisha B’Av, which commemorates not only the destruction of the Temple, but also other calamities to have befallen the Jewish people over the centuries.
 
This work uses snippets of the text, freely translated into English. I wrote it in June 2025 with the terrorist attacks in Israel on October 7th 2023 very much in the front of my mind. I humbly dedicate it to the victims of that terrible atrocity."
 
Conductor's score and parts, along with practice tracks for the choir, are available on request.