Tenebrae at St John's

The service of Tenebrae during Holy Week, inspired many composers to produce music. There are settings both of the Lamentations of Jeremiah which form the readings during the service, and of the individual Responds sung before and after the readings. 

The service had its drama heightened by the candles in the church being extinguished one by one, until only one was left. Whilst not going quite this far, Alistair Dixon and Chapelle du Roi will be evoking this in their Tenebrae concert at St John's Smith Square on 1 April 2015, when the group will be performing Thomas Tallis's Lamentations of Jeremiah, Gesualdo's Tenebrae Responds, plus music by Guerrero and Byrd, along with a set of motets by Bernardino de Ribera which were only recently discovered.