Robert White: Lamentations

While perhaps Tallis and Byrd’s Lamentations are better known, Robert White’s Lamentations reflects a uniquely bleak and austere vision and is surely one of the composer’s finest works. David Wulstan writes: ‘This grief-stricken music is spellbinding.’ Set for five voices, the melancholy sound moves between expressive contrapuntal writing and block chords, offering some remarkably bold harmonic shifts and revealing an exceptional depth of emotion. In keeping with the high standards of the previous Musica Dei Donum editions, this edition has a running translation atop each system to facilitate performance. White’s Lamentations is well suited for any good church choir or amateur or college chorus in a concert setting.