DARK WATCH (tenebrae)

Following the comprehensive performance of Jan Dismas Zelenka's Lamentations and Responsories in 2016, this time the complete cycle of Carl Gesualdo da Venosa's Responsories, published in 1611, will be played. Their texts combine the Old Testament prophecies of Christ's sacrifice with the New Testament passion story and create an imaginary path from Christ's prayer on the Mount of Olives to death on the cross to the laying of his body in the tomb. Tenebrae then closed each day the penitent psalm Miserere (Have mercy on me, God) and the canticum Benedictus (Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel), which Gesualdo set to music only once. Therefore, this comprehensive performance of the entire three-day cycle of responsories, supplemented by appropriate choral songs, will be entrusted to three different ensembles.