The following pages describe music composed for use in Passiontide liturgies and in personal devotion during this season.
A Passiontide hymn — The background to the text and music of “Sing, my tongue, the glorious battle”
A Passiontide hymn — The background to the text and music of “Ah, holy Jesus”
A Palm Sunday hymn — The background to the text and music of “All glory, laud, and honor”
“The depths of solemn grandeur” — Reflections on the aesthetics of Lamentations
Miserere mei, Deus — A guide to a number of settings of Psalm 51
Morales, The Seven Lamentations — Meditations on the plight of Jerusalem and the suffering of Christ
Buxtehude and the Body of Jesus — Seven short works based on a medieval poem
“In the midst of life we are in death” I — John Sheppard’s Media vita
“In the midst of life we are in death” II — Mendelssohn and others revisit Media vita
“Eloquent lamentation” — Lassus’s setting of the penitential Psalms and The Tears of St. Peter
“With Mary and a cloud of witnesses” — Settings of the Stabat Mater dolorosa
Holy Week plainchant and polyphony — The Tenebrae Consort sings Tallis’s Lamentations
Passion settings before J. S. Bach — Music by Orlande de Lassus and Heinrich Schütz
J. S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion — An introduction by tenor James Gilchrist and two performances
J. S. Bach’s St. John Passion — Three performances, commentary, and links to explanatory texts
Maundy Thursday responsories — The readings and chanted texts used in Matins on Maundy Thursday
Good Friday responsories — The readings and chanted texts used in Matins on Good Friday
Holy Saturday responsories — The readings and chanted texts used in Matins on Holy Saturday