Thomas Tallis: Lamentations of Jeremiah II

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Thomas Tallis (1505 - 1585) wrote the 'Lamentations of Jeremiah I & II" sometime during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Scholars are somewhat conflicted in its original intent; It was unlikely that the work used as public liturgical music in the time where there were strong anti-Catholic sentiments amongst the Protestant Court of St. James, but was perhaps used by recusant Catholics in their own private worship.

This recording of Tallis' Lamentations II came out of a deep longing to make music once again in the time of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. In Singapore, the government imposed physical distancing measures to help mitigate the spread of the disease. These measures have been quite successful, but consequently have prevented choirs from meeting and singing for a better part of the year. These measures began to ease in the later part of 2020, but as it stands at this point of time, only 5 singers were allowed to sing at any given time. This recording was enacted in accordance to the advisories laid out by the government.

The beautiful poetry and meaning of the text resonates well with our own current situation. There is much despair in what we have lost because of the pandemic, but also an urgent hope for a better future in the time to come.