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A lament or lamentation is a passionate expression of grief, often in music,
poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meani ...
, or
song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetiti ...
form. The grief is most often born of regret, or mourning. Laments can also be expressed in a verbal manner in which participants lament about something that they regret or someone that they have lost, and they are usually accompanied by wailing, moaning and/or crying. Laments constitute some of the oldest forms of writing, and examples exist across human cultures.


History

Many of the oldest and most lasting poems in human history have been laments. The
Lament for Sumer and Ur The lament for Sumer and Urim or the lament for Sumer and Ur is a poem and one of five known Mesopotamian "city laments"— dirges for ruined cities in the voice of the city's tutelary goddess. The other city laments are: *The Lament for Ur ...
dates back at least 4000 years to ancient
Sumer Sumer () is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. It is one of the cradles of ...
, the world's first urban civilization. Laments are present in both the ''
Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Ody ...
'' and the ''
Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the '' Iliad'', ...
'', and laments continued to be sung in elegiacs accompanied by the aulos in classical and Hellenistic Greece. Elements of laments appear in '' Beowulf'', in the Hindu Vedas, and in
ancient Near Eastern The ancient Near East was the home of early civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East: Mesopotamia (modern Iraq, southeast Turkey, southwest Iran and northeastern Syria), ancient Egypt, ancient Iran ( E ...
religious texts. They are included in the Mesopotamian City Laments such as the
Lament for Ur The Lament for Ur, or Lamentation over the city of Ur is a Sumerian lament composed around the time of the fall of Ur to the Elamites and the end of the city's third dynasty (c. 2000 BC). Laments It contains one of five known Mesopotamian ...
and the Jewish
Tanakh The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Christian Old Testament). In many oral traditions, both early and modern, the lament has been a genre usually performed by women: Batya Weinbaum made a case for the spontaneous lament of women chanters in the creation of the oral tradition that resulted in the ''
Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Ody ...
'' The material of lament, the "sound of trauma" is as much an element in the Book of Job as in the genre of
pastoral elegy The pastoral elegy is a poem about both death and idyllic rural life. Often, the pastoral elegy features shepherds. The genre is actually a subgroup of pastoral poetry, as the elegy takes the pastoral elements and relates them to expressing grief ...
, such as Shelley's "Adonais" or Matthew Arnold's "Thyrsis". The Book of Lamentations or ''Lamentations of Jeremiah'' figures in the Old Testament. The '' Lamentation of Christ'' (under many closely variant terms) is a common subject from the ''Life of Christ'' in art, showing Jesus' dead body being mourned after the Crucifixion. Jesus himself lamented over the prospective fall of Jerusalem as he and his disciples entered the city ahead of his passion. A lament in the Book of Lamentations or in the Psalms, in particular in the Lament/Complaint Psalms of the
Tanakh The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''
Michael D. Coogan Michael D. Coogan is lecturer on Hebrew Bible/Old Testament at Harvard Divinity School, Director of Publications for the Harvard Semitic Museum, editor-in-chief of Oxford Biblical Studies Online, and professor emeritus of religious studies at Stone ...
, ''A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009) 370
These laments, too, often have a set format: an address to God, description of the suffering/anguish from which one seeks relief, a petition for help and deliverance, a curse towards one's enemies, an expression of the belief of ones innocence or a confession of the lack thereof, a vow corresponding to an expected divine response, and lastly, a song of thanksgiving. Examples of a general format of this, both in the individual and communal laments, can be seen in
Psalm 3 Psalm 3 is the third psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Lord, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me". In Latin, it is known as "Domine quid multiplicati sunt". The ...
and Psalm 44 respectively. The '' Lament of Edward II'', if it is actually written by Edward II of England, is the sole surviving composition of his. A heroine's lament is a conventional fixture of baroque opera seria, accompanied usually by strings alone, in
descending tetrachord In music theory, the descending tetrachord is a series of four notes from a scale, or tetrachord, arranged in order from highest to lowest, or descending order. For example, --- , as created by the Andalusian cadence. The descending tetrachord ...
s. Because of their plangent cantabile melodic lines, evocatively free, non- strophic construction and
adagio Adagio (Italian for 'slowly', ) may refer to: Music * Adagio, a tempo marking, indicating that music is to be played slowly, or a composition intended to be played in this manner * Adagio (band), a French progressive metal band Albums * ''Adag ...
pace, operatic laments have remained vividly memorable soprano or mezzo-soprano arias even when separated from the emotional pathos of their operatic contexts. An early example is Ariadne's "Lasciatemi morire", which is the only survivor of Claudio Monteverdi's lost ''Arianna''. Francesco Cavalli's operas extended the ''lamento'' formula, in numerous exemplars, of which Ciro's "Negatemi respiri" from '' Ciro'' is notable. Other examples include
Dido's Lament Dido's Lament is the aria "When I am laid in earth" from the opera ''Dido and Aeneas'' by Henry Purcell (libretto by Nahum Tate). It is included in many classical music textbooks on account of its exemplary use of the passus duriusculus in t ...
("When I am laid in earth") ( Henry Purcell, '' Dido and Aeneas''), " Lascia ch'io pianga" ( George Frideric Handel, '' Rinaldo''), "Caro mio ben" ( Tomaso or Giuseppe Giordani). The lament continued to represent a musico-dramatic high point. In the context of opera buffa, the Countess's lament, " Dove sono", comes as a surprise to the audience of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's '' The Marriage of Figaro'', and in Gioachino Rossini's '' Barber of Seville'', Rosina's plaintive words at her apparent abandonment are followed, not by the expected lament aria, but by a vivid orchestral interlude of storm music. The heroine's lament remained a fixture in romantic opera, and the Marschallin's monologue in act 1 of '' Der Rosenkavalier'' can be understood as a penetrating psychological lament. In Modernity, discourses about
Melancholia Melancholia or melancholy (from el, µέλαινα χολή ',Burton, Bk. I, p. 147 meaning black bile) is a concept found throughout ancient, medieval and premodern medicine in Europe that describes a condition characterized by markedly d ...
and
Trauma Trauma most often refers to: *Major trauma, in physical medicine, severe physical injury caused by an external source *Psychological trauma, a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as a result of a severely distressing event *Traumatic inju ...
take the functional place ritual laments hold in premodern societies. This entails a shift from a focus on community and convention to individuality and authenticity.


Scottish laments

The purely instrumental lament is a common form in
piobaireachd Pibroch, or is an art music genre associated primarily with the Scottish Highlands that is characterised by extended compositions with a melodic theme and elaborate formal variations. Strictly meaning "piping" in Scottish Gaelic, has for some f ...
music for the Scottish bagpipes. "MacCrimmon's Lament" dates to the Jacobite uprising of 1745. The tune is held to have been written by Donald Ban MacCrimmon, piper to the MacLeods of Dunvegan, who supported the Hanoverians. It is said that Donald Ban, who was killed at Moy in 1746, had an intimation that he would not return. A well-known Gaelic lullaby is " Griogal Cridhe" ("Beloved Gregor"). It was composed in 1570 after the execution of Gregor MacGregor by the Campbells. The grief-stricken widow, Marion Campbell, describes what happened as she sings to her child. "" ("Lament for the Children") is a pìobaireachd composed by Padruig Mór MacCrimmon in the early 1650s. It is generally held to be based on the loss of seven of MacCrimmon's eight sons within a year to smallpox, possibly brought to Skye by a Spanish trading vessel. Poet and writer
Angus Peter Campbell Angus Peter Campbell ( gd, Aonghas P(h)àdraig Caimbeul; born 1952) is a Scottish award-winning poet, novelist, journalist, broadcaster and actor. Campbell's works, which are written mainly in Scottish Gaelic, draw heavily upon both Hebridean my ...
, quoting poet Sorley MacLean, has called it "one of the great artistic glories of all Europe". Author Bridget MacKenzie, in ''Piping Traditions of Argyll'', suggests that it refers to the slaughter of the MacLeod's fighting Cromwell's forces at the Battle of Worcester. It may have been inspired by both."Pibroch songs and canntaireachd", Education Scotland
Other Scottish laments from outside of the
piobaireachd Pibroch, or is an art music genre associated primarily with the Scottish Highlands that is characterised by extended compositions with a melodic theme and elaborate formal variations. Strictly meaning "piping" in Scottish Gaelic, has for some f ...
tradition include "Lowlands Away", "MacPherson's Rant", and "Hector the Hero".


Musical form

There is a short, free musical form appearing in the Baroque and then again in the Romantic periods, called a lament. It is typically a set of harmonic variations in homophonic texture, wherein the bass descends through a tetrachord, usually one suggesting a minor mode.


See also

*
Ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
* Dirge * Death poem * Death wail * Doina * Elegy * Endecha – Galician lament, subgenre of the planto *
Keening Keening (Irish: Caointeoireacht) is a traditional form of vocal lament for the dead in the Gaelic Celtic tradition, known to have taken place in Ireland and Scotland. Keening, which can be seen as a form of sean-nós singing, was performed ...
*
Kinah Kinah, ḳinah or qinah (plural kinoth, qinot, qinoth) is Hebrew for a dirge or lamentation. Its general meaning is a dirge or lament, especially as sung by Jewish professional mourning women. Specifically, it can refer to one of the many Hebre ...
(plural: kinnot) – Kinnot are traditional Hebrew poems recited on
Tisha B'Av Tisha B'Av ( he, תִּשְׁעָה בְּאָב ''Tīšʿā Bəʾāv''; , ) is an annual fast day in Judaism, on which a number of disasters in Jewish history occurred, primarily the destruction of both Solomon's Temple by the Neo-Babylonian ...
lamenting the destruction of the First and Second Temples and other historical catastrophes. (The term "kinah" also appears in the Bible, referring to lamentation). * Kommós * Lament bass * Mawwal, Middle Eastern variant * Threnody * King Crimson's track "Prince Rupert's Lament" on 1970 album '' Lizard'', an instrumental lament played with electric guitar as lead instrument, and the song "Lament" on 1974 album ''
Starless and Bible Black ''Starless and Bible Black'' is the sixth studio album by English progressive rock band King Crimson, released in March 1974 by Island Records in the United Kingdom and by Atlantic Records in the United States. It carries over most of the same ...
'' * Frederik Magle track "Lament" on the 2010 album ''
Like a Flame ''Like a Flame'' is a double-album with free improvisations for organ by Frederik Magle released in December 2010 on the Swedish record label Proprius Music (PRCD 2061). It was recorded on the then new Frobenius pipe organ in Jørlunde church ...
''


Notes


Further reading

* H. Munro Chadwick,
Nora Kershaw Chadwick Nora Kershaw Chadwick CBE FSA FBA (28 January 1891 – 24 April 1972) was an English philologist who specialized in Anglo-Saxon, Celtic and Old Norse studies. Early life and education Nora Kershaw was born in Lancashire in 1891, the first d ...
, ''The Growth of Literature'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1932–40), e.g. vol. 2 p. 229. *Richard Church, ''The Lamendation of Military Campaigns''. PDQ: Steve Ruling, 2000. *
Andrew Dalby Andrew Dalby, (born 1947 in Liverpool) is an English linguist, translator and historian who has written articles and several books on a wide range of topics including food history, language, and Classical texts. Education and early career D ...
, ''Rediscovering Homer'' (New York: Norton, 2006. ) pp. 141–143. *Gail Holst-Warhaft, ''Dangerous Voices: Women's Laments and Greek Literature''. London: Routledge, 1992. . *Nancy C. Lee, ''Lyrics of Lament: From Tragedy to Transformation.'' Minneapolis: Fortress, 2010. * Marcello Sorce Keller, "Expressing, Communicating, Sharing and Representing Grief and Sorrow with Organised Sound (Musings in Eight Short Segments)", in Stephen Wild, Di Roy, Aaron Corn and Ruth Lee Martin (eds), ''One Common Thread – The Musical World of Lament'' – Thematic Issue of Humanities Research. Canberra, ANU University Press, vol. XIX, no. 3. 2013, 3–14 *Claus Westermann, ''Praise and Lament in the Psalms''. Westminster: John Knox Press, 1981. .


External links


Greek laments (''Thrênoi, Moirológia'')


Andrea Fishman, "Thrênoi to Moirológia: Female Voices of Solitude, Resistance, and Solidarity" ''Oral Tradition'', 23/2 (2008): 267–295Roderick Beaton, Folk Poetry of Modern Greece, Cambridge University Press, 2004Greek lament song (Mοιρολόϊ – ''Moiroloi'')
from
Mani Mani may refer to: Geography * Maní, Casanare, a town and municipality in Casanare Department, Colombia * Mani, Chad, a town and sub-prefecture in Chad * Mani, Evros, a village in northeastern Greece * Mani, Karnataka, a village in Dakshina ...
, performed in a funeral
Greek lament song (Mοιρολόϊ – ''Moiroloi'')
from Epirus, instrumental {{Authority control Social philosophy Traditions Genres of poetry Death customs Melancholia Oral communication Behavior Grief Funeral orations Laments Death music