GRANDS CONCERTS: GRAINDELAVOIX / LAMENTS OF DAVID FOR JONATHAN AND ABSALOM
King David, one of the key biblical figures, has always been associated with music. Tradition attributes the authorship of psalms to him, and numerous stories depict him as a musician and singer whose sounds soothed people and animals. Contained in the Second Book of Samuel, David’s lamentations following the death of his rebellious son Absalom and close friend Jonathan is an expression of grief that transcends historical contexts and is still moving today.
The construction of David’s lamentations skilfully combines the expression of personal grief with universal meaning, making them still fit into a variety of cultural and political frameworks. These works re-emerged particularly in the 16th and 17th centuries in England, Flanders and Spain, where they were reinterpreted. The stories of David, Absalom and Jonathan resemble ancient tragedies full of betrayal, revenge and love. The lamentations focus on loss: a father mourning his son and a man mourning his friend. David, a powerful ruler, yet a grief-stricken man, symbolises a combination of strength and fragility.
In the artists’ own words, the Graindelavoix concert programme was designed, as a ”musical atlas” of David’s lamentation. This allows listeners to discover similarities and differences in the works of various artists. Repeated texts and motifs will facilitate comparisons and delving into the emotional and artistic experience of these masterpieces.
The first part of the programme comprises four lamentations for Absalom, including Richard Dering’s expressive motet, Bernardino de Ribera’s chromatic Rex autem David, Pierre de la Rue’s famous Absalon fili mi and Dering’s second lamentation distinguished by the opening poem (absent from other English lamentations) And the King was moved. The second part of the concert will focus on the lamentations for Jonathan. Alongside works by English composers Thomas Tomkins and Robert Ramsey, there are motets by Josquin des Prez and Pierre de la Rue combining declamatory parts with polyphony. The concert in its third part returns to the lamentation for Absalom in Lodovico Agostini’s canonical work, Alonso de Tejeda’s simple but moving motet and Nicolas Gombert’s monumental Absalon fili mi created for eight voices using the Mille Regrets motif, a favourite piece of Emperor Charles V.
The programme presents David’s lamentations as works that transcend the boundaries of time and space, combining the personal experience of pain with its universal dimension. Their emotional depth and ambivalent context make them early examples of autonomous works of art that explore subjectivity through music. This is the first attempt to bring together David’s extensive lamentation repertoire into a single programme, offering contemporary listeners a unique experience of mourning in music.
Performers:
Graindelavoix
Björn Schmelzer – artistic director
Programme:
LAMENTS OF DAVID FOR JONATHAN AND ABSALOM
Laments for Absalom
Richard Dering (ca. 1580–1630) Contristatus est Rex David
Bernardino de Ribera (ca. 1520 – ca. 1580) Rex autem David
Pierre de la Rue (?) (ok .1460–1518) Absalon fili mi
Richard Dering And the King was moved
Laments for Jonathan
Thomas Tomkins (1572–1656) Then David mourned
Josquin des Prez (ca. 1455–1521) Doleo super te
Thomas Weelkes (ok .1576–1623) O Jonathan, woe is me
Pierre de la Rue Doleo super te
Robert Ramsey (ca. 1590–1640) How are the mighty fallen
Final Laments for Absalom
Lodovico Agostini (1534–1590) Fili mi Absalon
Alonso de Tejeda (1540–1628) Rex autem David
Thomas Tomkins When David heard
Nicolas Gombert (ca. 1495 – ca. 1560) Lugebat David Absalon
Organizers
