for mixed choir, a capella  
Duration 15'00"
Musical Excerpt Music player
The Biblical Book of Lamentations records the poetic reactions of the prophet Jeremiah to the destruction of Jerusalem in 597 B.C.  These texts have been a favorite of choral composers throughout the centuries, due to the dramatic imagery and vivid description of the city in desolation.  The text for my setting is the Latin translation of Chapter 1, verses 1-5.  In the musical excerpt, the city is compared to an abandoned woman weeping in the night; her friends have betrayed her and become her enemies.