The wonderful Tenebrae Responsories for the Office of Holy Week are here http://www.youtube.com/user/musicaergosum#p/c/E9EA654CB15BF9FC/0/O54z-k1aoPM The links should play one after the other. I am sure you will know the texts, but I will copy them as the sequence is one of the most moving dramas I know before the Passions of Bach. Amicus meus osculi me tradidit signo: Quem osculatus fuero, ipse est, tenete eum: hoc malum fecit signum, qui per osculum adimplevit homicidium. Infelix praetermisit pretium sanguinis, et in fine laqueo se suspendit. Bonum erat illi, si natus non fuisset homo ille. The sign by which my friend betrayed me was a kiss: The one I kiss, he is your man; hold him fast. This was the evil sign he gave, and through a kiss murder he wrought. The wretch returned the price of blood, and in the end he hanged himself. It would have been good for that man, had he never been born. Iudas mercator pessimus osculo petiit Dominum: ille ut agnus innocens non negavit Iudae osculum: Denariorum numero Christum Iudaeis tradidit. Melius illi erat, si natus non fuisset. Judas, that dealer in wickedness, sought out the Lord with a kiss, and He, like an innocent lamb, did not refuse Judas’ kiss: For a handful of coins he delivered Christ up to the Jews. It would have been better for him, had he never been born. Unus ex discipulis meis tradet me hodie: Vae illi per quem tradar ego: Melius illi erat, si natus non fuisset. Qui intingit mecum manum in paropside, hic me traditurus est in manus peccatorum. This day shall one of my disciples betray me. Woe to him by whom I am betrayed. It would have been better for him, had he never been born. He who dips his hand into the bowl with me will deliver me into the hands of sinners. Eram quasi agnus innocens: ductus sum ad immolandum, et nesciebam: consilium fecerunt inimici mei adversum me, dicentes: Venite, mittamus lignum in panem eius, et eradamus eum de terra viventium. Omnes inimici mei adversum me cogitabant mala mihi: verbum iniquum mandaverunt adversum me, dicentes: I was like an innocent lamb. I was led to sacrifice, and did not know. My enemies plotted against me, saying: Come, let us put wood into his bread, and drive him from the land of the living. All my enemies devised evil against me. Cruel words they spoke against me, saying: Una hora non potuistis vigilare mecum, qui exhortabamini mori pro me? Vel Iudam non videtis, quomodo non dormit, sed festinat tradere me Iudaeis? Quid dormitis? Surgite et orate, ne intretis in tentationem. Could you not keep watch with me one hour, you who declared you would die for me? Or do you not see that Judas does not sleep, but hastens to deliver me into the hands of the Jews? Why do you sleep? Arise and pray that you may not be put to the test. Seniores populi consilium fecerunt, ut Iesum dolo tenerent, et occiderent: cum gladiis et fustibus exierunt tamquam ad latronem. Collegerunt pontifices et pharisaei concilium. The elders of the people plotted together to have Jesus arrested by some trick, and to put him to death: with swords and cudgels they went out as if against a robber. The priests and pharisees conferred together. Tamquam ad latronem existis cum gladiis et fustibus comprehendere me: Quotidie apud vos eram in templo docens, et non me tenuistis: et ecce, flagellatum ducitis ad crucifigendum. Cumque iniecissent manus in Iesum, et tenuissent eum, dixit ad eos: As if against a robber you have come out with swords and cudgels to seize me. Day after day I was with you teaching in the temple and you did not arrest me, but now you scourge me and lead me away to death upon the cross. And when they had laid hands upon Jesus, and had arrested him, he said to them: Tenebrae factae sunt, dum crucifixissent Iesum Iudaei: et circa horam nonam exclamavit Iesus voce magna: Deus meus, ut quid me dereliquisti? Et inclinato capite, emisit spiritum. Exclamans Iesus voce magna ait: Pater, in manus tuas commendo spiritum meum. There was darkness when the Jews crucified Jesus, and about the ninth hour Jesus cried out aloud: My God, why have you forsaken me? And having bowed down his head, he breathed his last. Crying out aloud Jesus said: Father, into your hands I commit my soul. Animam meam dilectam tradidi in manus iniquorum, et facta est mihi haereditas mea, sicut leo in silva: dedit contra me voces adversarius meus, Congregamini, et properate ad devorandum illum: posuerunt me in deserto solitudinis, et luxit super me omnis terra: Quia non est inventus qui me agnosceret, et faceret bene. Insurrexerunt in me viri absque misericordia, et non pepercerunt animae meae. The life that I held dear I put into the hands of the unrighteous, and my inheritance has become for me like a lion in the forest. My enemy spoke out against me, Come, gather together and hasten to devour him. They placed me in a wasteland of desolation, and all the earth mourned for me. For there was no one to acknowledge me or give me help. Men rose up against me without mercy and spared not my life. Tradiderunt me in manus impiorum, et inter iniquos proiecerunt me, et non pepercerunt animae meae: congregati sunt adversum me fortes: Et sicut gigantes steterunt contra me. Alieni insurrexerunt adversum me, et fortes quaesierunt animam meam. They delivered me into the hands of the ungodly and cast me among the unjust and spared not my life. The mighty gathered against me, and like giants they stood against me. Strangers rose up against me, and the mighty sought my life. Iesum tradidit impius summis principibus sacerdotum, et senioribus populi: Petrus autem sequebatur eum a longe, ut videret finem. Adduxerunt autem eum ad Caipham principem sacerdotum, ubi scribae et pharisaei convenerant. The ungodly man betrayed Jesus to the chief priests and the elders of the people: but Peter followed him at a distance, to see how it would end. They led him to Caiphas, the chief priest, where the scribes and pharisees were gathered together. Caligaverunt oculi mei a fletu meo: quia elongatus est a me, qui consolabatur me: Videte, omnes populi, si est dolor similis sicut dolor meus. O vos omnes, qui transitis per viam, attendite et videte. My eyes were blind with weeping; for he that consoled me is far from me. Consider, all you people, if there is any sorrow like my sorrow. All you who pass along this way, take heed and consider. Recessit pastor noster, fons aquae vivae, ad cuius transitum sol obscuratus est: Nam et ille captus est, qui captivum tenebat primum hominem: hodie portas mortis et seras pariter Salvator noster disrupit. Destruxit quidem claustra inferni, et subvertit potentias diaboli. Our shepherd, the fount of living water, is gone, at his passing the sun grew dark: For even he is taken, who captive held the first of men. Today our Saviour has burst alike the gates and bolts of death. The bounds of Hell he has destroyed and overthrown the devil’s power O vos omnes, qui transitis per viam, attendite, et videte si est dolor similis sicut dolor meus. Attendite universi populi, et videte dolorem meum. All you who pass along this way, take heed and consider if there is any sorrow like my sorrow. Take heed, all you people, and consider my sorrow. Ecce quomodo moritur iustus, et nemo percipit corde: et viri iusti tolluntur, et nemo considerat: a facie iniquitatis sublatus est iustus: et erit in pace memoria eius. Tamquam agnus coram tondente se obmutuit, et non aperuit os suum: de angustia, et de iudicio sublatus est. Behold how the just man dies, and no one feels for him: the just are done away with, and no one cares: from the face of iniquity is the just man taken, and his memory shall be in peace. Like a lamb before the shearer he was silent and opened not his mouth. From anguish and from judgement was he taken. Astiterunt reges terrae, et principes convenerunt in unum, adversus Dominum, et adversus Christum eius. Quare fremuerunt gentes, et populi meditati sunt inania? The kings of the earth rose up, and the princes assembled together against the Lord, and against His Christ. Why have the nations given vent to their rage, and why have the people set their hearts on empty thoughts? Aestimatus sum cum descendentibus in lacum: Factus sum sicut homo sine adiutorio, inter mortuos liber. Posuerunt me in lacu inferiori, in tenebrosis, et in umbra mortis. I am counted among them that go down into the pit: I have become like a man without help, free among the dead. They placed me in the pit of Hell, in darkness, and in the shadow of death. Sepulto Domino, signatum est monumentum, volventes lapidem ad ostium monumenti: Ponentes milites, qui custodirent illum. Accedentes principes sacerdotum ad Pilatum, petierunt illum. When the Lord was buried, they sealed his tomb, rolling a rock before the entrance to the tomb: setting soldiers to guard it. The chief priests came to Pilate and petitioned him. My personal favourite recording of this sequence is by Westminster Cathedral Choir, and extracts can be heard from each track on this site http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/tw.asp?w=W6886 (just click on the little notes by the track you wish to hear.) The passion in this performance is incandescent
