Lamentatio Secunda

The Old Testament 'Lamentations' traditionally attributed to the prophet Jeremiah comprise five Hebrew poems about the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC at the hands of the Babylonians. The Lamentations were eventually incorporated into the Christian liturgies of Holy Week. Here the three readings from Lamentations assigned to Maundy Thursday in Lasso's five-voice version, published in 1585.