Communion music
This week, we shall be listening to “Omnes amici mei dereliquerunt me” by Carlo Gesualdo (1566–1613), performed by The Hilliard Ensemble.
The text (“All my friends have deserted me”) is one of the Responsories for the service of Tenebræ on Good Friday, derived from Job 19:14,19. Gesualdo’s music is known for its extreme chromaticism and harmonic disjunction, a style unparalleled at the time. It has been speculated that this reflects the inner torment he suffered for the rest of his life after killing his wife and her lover when he caught them in flagrante in October 1590.
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