The ‘Lamentationes Jeremiae Prophetae’ originated over 2000 Years ago. They represent some of the finest Hebrew Poetry. In them the Prophet mourns the destruction of the Temple in 586BC, and to this day they are being recited at the Wailing Wall.
During the Middle Ages the Lamentations became an intrinsic part of the Catholic Easter Liturgy. In the middle of the 15th Century the first polyphonic interpretations appeared, and during the Baroque Epoche in Naples this evocative form was especially cherished. Practically every Neapolitan composer of note set the Lamentations to Music.
