Tenebrae responsories are the

responsories A responsory or respond is a type of chant in western Christian liturgies. Definition The most general definition of a responsory is any psalm, canticle, or other sacred musical work sung responsorially, that is, with a cantor or small group si ...

sung following the lessons of

Tenebrae Tenebrae (—Latin for "darkness") is a religious service of Western Christianity held during the three days preceding Easter Day, and characterized by gradual extinguishing of candles, and by a "strepitus" or "loud noise" taking place in total ...

, the

Matins Matins (also Mattins) is a canonical hour in Christian liturgy, originally sung during the darkness of early morning. The earliest use of the term was in reference to the canonical hour, also called the vigil, which was originally celebrated b ...

services of the last three days of

Holy Week Holy Week ( la, Hebdomada Sancta or , ; grc, Ἁγία καὶ Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάς, translit=Hagia kai Megale Hebdomas, lit=Holy and Great Week) is the most sacred week in the liturgical year in Christianity. In Eastern Churches, w ...

Maundy Thursday Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday (also known as Great and Holy Thursday, Holy and Great Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Sheer Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries, among other names) is the day during Holy Week that commemorates the Washing of the ...

, Good Friday and

Holy Saturday Holy Saturday ( la, Sabbatum Sanctum), also known as Great and Holy Saturday (also Holy and Great Saturday), the Great Sabbath, Hallelujah Saturday (in Portugal and Brazil), Saturday of the Glory, Sabado de Gloria, and Black Saturday or Easter ...

. Polyphonic settings to replace

plainchant Plainsong or plainchant (calque from the French ''plain-chant''; la, cantus planus) is a body of chants used in the liturgies of the Western Church. When referring to the term plainsong, it is those sacred pieces that are composed in Latin text ...

have been published under a various titles, including ''Responsoria pro hebdomada sancta'' (Responsories for Holy Week ). In most places, Matins as well as Lauds of these days were normally anticipated on the evening of the preceding day and were celebrated on Wednesday, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, respectively. The 1955 reform of the Holy Week ceremonies by Pope Pius XII, redefining '' Triduum Sacrum'' to include Easter Sunday and take in only the close of Maundy Thursday, moved them to Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. Tenebrae as such was not included in the 1970

Liturgy of the Hours The Liturgy of the Hours (Latin: ''Liturgia Horarum'') or Divine Office (Latin: ''Officium Divinum'') or ''Opus Dei'' ("Work of God") are a set of Catholic prayers comprising the canonical hours, often also referred to as the breviary, of the ...

, vanishing altogether around 1977. '' Summorum Pontificum'' (2007) now permits clerics bound to recitation of the Divine Office to use the 1961 Roman Breviary. Composers who produced polyphonic settings include Carlo Gesualdo (''

Responsoria et alia ad Officium Hebdomadae Sanctae spectantia ''Responsoria et alia ad Officium Hebdomadae Sanctae spectantia'' is a collection of music for Holy Week by Italian composer Carlo Gesualdo, published in 1611. It consists of three sets of nine short pieces, one set for each of Maundy Thursday, G ...

'', 1611, Jean L'Héritier,

Marc-Antoine Charpentier Marc-Antoine Charpentier (; 1643 – 24 February 1704) was a French Baroque composer during the reign of Louis XIV. One of his most famous works is the main theme from the prelude of his ''Te Deum'', ''Marche en rondeau''. This theme is still us ...

, 19 settings (H.111 -119, H.126 - 134 and H.144), Joseph Haydn (Hob XXIIb),

Jan Dismas Zelenka Jan Dismas Zelenka (16 October 1679 – 23 December 1745), baptised Jan Lukáš Zelenka was a Czech composer and musician of the Baroque period. His music is admired for its harmonic inventiveness and mastery of counterpoint. Zelenka was rais ...

( ZWV 55), Max Reger, Francis Poulenc, and Pierre Boulez.

The responsories

Within the liturgy, each responsory followed a reading. Each day's

matins Matins (also Mattins) is a canonical hour in Christian liturgy, originally sung during the darkness of early morning. The earliest use of the term was in reference to the canonical hour, also called the vigil, which was originally celebrated b ...

was divided into three

nocturn Nocturns (Latin: ''nocturni'' or ''nocturna'') is a Christian canonical hour said in the nighttime. In the liturgy of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, nocturns refer to the sections into which the canonical hour of matins was divided from ...

s. The first nocturn had three readings from

Jeremiah Jeremiah, Modern: , Tiberian: ; el, Ἰερεμίας, Ieremíās; meaning " Yah shall raise" (c. 650 – c. 570 BC), also called Jeremias or the "weeping prophet", was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewi ...

Book of Lamentations The Book of Lamentations ( he, אֵיכָה, , from its incipit meaning "how") is a collection of poetic laments for the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. In the Hebrew Bible it appears in the Ketuvim ("Writings") as one of the Five Megill ...

, and the second nocturn three readings from one or other of

Saint Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...

's commentaries on the Psalms. The three readings of the third nocturn were from the First Epistle to the Corinthians on Maundy Thursday, from the

Epistle to the Hebrews The Epistle to the Hebrews ( grc, Πρὸς Ἑβραίους, Pros Hebraious, to the Hebrews) is one of the books of the New Testament. The text does not mention the name of its author, but was traditionally attributed to Paul the Apostle. Most ...

on the other two days. Over the three days, therefore, the responsories, like the readings, came to a total of 27. Since the polyphonic Lamentations were an important musical genre in their own right, many collections (such as Victoria's ''Officium Hebdomadae sanctae'' 1585) include only the 18 Responsories of the second and third nocturns. Gesualdo, who set all 27, also includes a ''Miserere'' and ''Benedictus'' for Lauds, and a few composers ( Fabrizio Dentice and Tiburtio Massaino) set these last three times each, one setting for each day.

Maundy Thursday responsories

is called in Latin ''Feria V/Quinta in Cena Domini'' (an older spelling has ''Coena'' instead of ''Cena''), meaning Thursday (fifth day of the week) of the

Lord's Supper The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

. Compositions for its nine responsories can therefore appear under such titles as ''Feria V – In Coena Domini''. They can also be named by the day on which they were actually sung, as Charpentier's ''Les neuf répons du mercredi saint'' ("The nine responsories of Holy Wednesday").

Responsories of the first nocturn of Maundy Thursday

The three readings of the first nocturn of Maundy Thursday are

Lamentations The Book of Lamentations ( he, אֵיכָה, , from its incipit meaning "how") is a collection of poetic laments for the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. In the Hebrew Bible it appears in the Ketuvim ("Writings") as one of the Five Megillo ...

1:1–5, 1:6–9 and 1:10–14.

''In monte Oliveti''

The first Maundy Thursday responsory refers to the Agony of Christ in

Gethsemane Gethsemane () is a garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem where, according to the four Gospels of the New Testament, Jesus underwent the agony in the garden and was arrested before his crucifixion. It is a place of great resona ...

at the foot of the

Mount of Olives The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet ( he, הַר הַזֵּיתִים, Har ha-Zeitim; ar, جبل الزيتون, Jabal az-Zaytūn; both lit. 'Mount of Olives'; in Arabic also , , 'the Mountain') is a mountain ridge east of and adjacent to Jeru ...

, Premier répons après la première leçon du premier nocturne, H.111, for 3 voices and continuo (1680). *

''Tristis est anima mea''

The second responsory represents Jesus speaking to his disciples in the garden of

. The first two lines of the responsory are . The last two lines of are more freely based on different Gospel passages, including Mark 14:50 and Luke 24:7. Settings of this responsory include a motet by Orlande de Lassus, appearing as No. 1 in the Drexel 4302 manuscript, a Tristis est anima mea (attributed to Kuhnau), SSATB motet attributed to Johann Kuhnau, Marc-Antoine Charpentier, 2 settings: ''Second répons après la seconde leçon du premier nocturne,'' H.112 (1680), for 2 voices and continuo and ''Second répons après la seconde leçon du premier nocturne du Mercredi Saint,'' H.126 (1690), for 2 voices and continuo and a setting as part of Francis Poulenc's ''Quatre motets pour un temps de pénitence''. *

''Ecce, vidimus eum''

Responsories of the second nocturn of Maundy Thursday

The readings of the second nocturn of Maundy Thursday are from Saint Augustine's commentary on Psalm 55, Psalm 54/55

''Amicus meus''

''Troisième répons après la troisième leçon du premier nocturne,'' H.113 (1680), for 1 voice and continuo

, ''Premier répons après la première leçon du second nocturne du Mercredi Saint'', H.127 (1690), for 1 voice , 2 flutes and continuo * Audio: *

''Judas mercator pessimus''

Second of Poulenc's ''Sept répons des ténèbres''. *

''Unus ex discipulis meis''

Marc-Antoine Charpentier, ''Quatrième répons après la première leçon du second nocturne,'' H.114 (1680), for 2 voices and continuo Marc-Antoine Charpentier, ''Troisième répons après la troisième leçon du second nocturne du Mercredi Saint,'' H.132 (1690), for 1 voice, 2 violins and continuo * Audio: *

Responsories of the third nocturn of Maundy Thursday

The readings of the third nocturn of Maundy Thursday are 1 Corinthians 11:17−22, 11:23−26, 11:27−34

''Eram quasi agnus innocens''

Marc-Antoine Charpentier, ''Cinquième répons après la seconde leçon du second nocturne'', H.115 (1680), for 1 voice and continuo *

''Una hora''

Marc-Antoine Charpentier, ''Sixième répons après la troisième leçon du second nocturne,'' H.116 (1680), for 3 voices and continuo First of Poulenc's ''Sept répons des ténèbres''. *

''Seniores populi''

Marc-Antoine Charpentier, ''Septième répons après la première leçon du troisième nocturne,'' H.117 (1680), for 1 voice and continuo *

Responsories of Good Friday

Good Friday, ''Feria VI/Sexta in Parasceve'', meaning Friday (sixth day of the week) of the Day of Preparation (from Greek language, Greek Παρασκευή). Thus this second set of nine responsories can appear under such titles as ''Feria VI – In Parasceve''.

Responsories of the first nocturn of Good Friday

The readings of the first nocturn of Good Friday are

2:8–11, 2:12–15 and 3:1–9.

''Omnes amici mei''

, ''Répons après la première leçon de ténèbres du Jeudi Saint'', H.144 (mid1690), for 1 voice, 2 flutes and continuo *

''Velum templi scissum est''

Marc-Antoine Charpentier'', Second répons après la seconde leçon du premier nocturne du Jeudi Saint,'' H.128, for soloists, chorus, flutes, strings and continuo (1690) *

''Vinea mea electa''

Second of Poulenc's ''Quatre motets pour un temps de pénitence''. *

Responsories of the second nocturn of Good Friday

The readings of the second nocturn of Good Friday are from Saint Augustine's commentary on Psalm 64, Psalm 63/64

''Tamquam ad latronem existis''

Marc-Antoine Charpentier, ''Premier répons après la première leçon du second nocturne du Jeudi Saint,'' H.133 (1690), for 1 voice, 2 flutes,, 2 violins and continuo *

''Tenebrae factae sunt''

This responsory is included on Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch#p. 269, p. 269 of the Lutheran ''Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch'' (1682). Marc-Antoine Charpentier, ''Second répons après la seconde leçon du second nocturne du Jeudi Saint'', for 1 voice, flutes, strings and continuo, H.129 (1690).Third of Poulenc's ''Quatre motets pour un temps de pénitence'', and fifth of his ''Sept répons des ténèbres'' *

''Animam meam dilectam''

Responsories of the third nocturn of Good Friday

The readings of the third nocturn of Holy Saturday are taken from –.

''Tradiderunt me''

''Jesum tradidit impius''

Third of Poulenc's ''Sept répons des ténèbres'' *

''Caligaverunt oculi mei''

Fourth of Poulenc's ''Sept répons des ténèbres'' * Audio: *

Responsories of Holy Saturday

, ''Sabbato Sancto'' in Latin. Responsories for this day can appear under such titles as ''Sabbato Sancto''.

Responsories of the first nocturn of Holy Saturday

The readings of the first nocturn of Holy Saturday are from

, 3:22–30, 4:1–6 and 5:1–11.

''Sicut ovis''

''Jerusalem surge''

Marc-Antoine Charpentier, ''Second répons après la seconde leçon du premier nocturne de Vendredi Saint,'' H.130 (1690), for 2 voices, 2 flutes and continuo *

''Plange quasi virgo''

This responsory has some parallels with the Book of Joel, e.g. "plange quasi virgo" ("Lament like a girl", wikisource:la:Biblia Sacra Vulgata (Stuttgartensia)/Ioel#1:8, 1:8), "accingite vos et plangite sacerdotes ululate ministri altaris" ("Put on sackcloth and mourn, you priests; Wail, you ministers of the altar", wikisource:la:Biblia Sacra Vulgata (Stuttgartensia)/Ioel#1:13, 1:13) and "magnus enim dies Domini et terribilis valde" ("for the day of Yahweh is great and very awesome", wikisource:la:Biblia Sacra Vulgata (Stuttgartensia)/Ioel#2:11, 2:11). *

Responsories of the second nocturn of Holy Saturday

The readings of the second nocturn of Holy Saturday are from Saint Augustine's commentary on Psalm 64, Psalm 63/64.

''Recessit pastor noster''

''O vos omnes''

The text is adapted from the Latin Vulgate translation of . Some of the most famous settings of the text are by Tomás Luis de Victoria (two settings for four voices: 1572 and 1585), Carlo Gesualdo (five voices: 1603; six voices: 1611),

, ''Second répons après la 1ère leçon du second nocturne du Vendredi saint'', H.134, for 1 voice, flutes and continuo (1690) and Pablo Casals (mixed choir: 1932). * Audio: *

''Ecce quomodo moritur justus''

Based on . A german version of the text of this responsory is set as ''Der Gerechte kömmt um''. Poulenc set it as the seventh of his ''Sept répons des ténèbres''. Marc-Antoine Charpentier'', Troisième répons après la troisième leçon du second nocturne du Vendredi Saint,'' H.131 (1690), for 1 voice, muted strings and continuo *