Levente Gyöngyösi
Tenebrae Responsoria - Feria Quinta
Duration: 31'
Choir: mixed choir
Tenebrae Responsoria - Feria Quinta
Translation, reprints and more
Levente Gyöngyösi
gemischter Chor (Tenebrae Responsoria - Feria Quinta)
Available digitally
Type: Chorpartitur
Sample pages
Audio preview
Video
Work introduction
Tenebrae Responsoria - Feria Quinta (Maundy Thursday Responsories) is a cycle of 9 choral works commissioned by Cantemus Choir (Nyíregyháza, Hungary) and their conductor, Soma Szabó. The works can be performed together (as a cycle) or separately.
Maundy Thursday is part of the Easter cycle in the Catholic liturgy, the first day of Christ's Passion, with wonderfully poetic, intense and poignant texts that help the believer to experience the Passion, to empathise with Christ, Judas and the disciples, and to be strengthened in his own faith.
The nine works are divided into three nocturnes, each containing three works. The centrepieces of the cycle are the concluding nocturnes, 3 (Ecce vidimus eum) and 6 (Unus ex discipulis meis), while in the final nocturne the middle one, 8 (Una hora non potuistis).
The musical style of the works is quite varied, but almost always within the framework of tonal relationships. There are two very fast works, 5 (Iudas, mercator pessimus) and the cycle-closing 9 (Seniores populi), which are most evocative of the rhythmic and slightly ironic tone of the turbas (mass scenes) of a Bach Passion. The light-music elements so characteristic of Gyöngyösi are found only in the latter work in the cycle.
The choral cycle is recommended for professional and advanced amateur choirs.
What is necessary to perform this work?
3 Crotals in C#2, F#2, B3