Lamentatio Jeremiae Prophetae

- Austrian-born composer Ernst Krenek wrote his choral work Lamentatio Jeremiae Prophetae in the winter of 1941/42, when living in the USA, where he had moved in 1937 after the rise to power of the Nazi party in Germany and Austria. Like many composers before him, he chose for this work texts from the Bible book The Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremiah, in which the destruction of Jerusalem and the fate or the people or Israel are being lamented. In a wider perspective, these texts have never lost any or their meaning up till the present day with wars and usurpation going on all over the world nowadays. ln this work, Krenek expressed his anger und compassion with the people who during World War II were deprived or their freedom und were suffering under the Nazi yoke.

- The texture or the work is mainly determined by a combination or twelve-tone technique, modal counterpoint and a technical complexity as round especially in the works of Johannes Ockeghem, the 15th century Dutch composer who Krenek admired above all others. Krenek wrote this fiendishly work without even thinking of a possible performance and it was not until 1958 that the first performance or the Lamentatio took place In Kassel, Germany, by the NCRV Vocal Ensemble, conducted by Marinus Voorberg. There were no other performances until April 1992, when Uwe Gronostay and his Netherlands Chamber Choir took the work into their repertoire and performed it all over Europe. For these performances Gronostay received a great many directions from the composer, just before he died In December last year.

- A most important issue with an unsurpassuble performance of one of the milestones in the vocal music of our time. Latin texts and translations into English, French and German in the booklet.

-  The Netherlands Chamber Choir was rounded In 1937 by the now legendary conductor and pianist Felix de Nobel. Such composers as Francis Poulenc, Hendrik Andriessen, Henk Bading and Rudolf Escher wrote works for the Netherlands Chamber Choir. In 1965 the Dutch government decided to undertake to bear completely the payment or the singers. This enabled the Netherlands Chamber Choir to occupy a unique place umong the professional choirs in Europe without any firm bond to an opera house or a broadcasting corporation.

The Netherlands Chamber Choir applies itself first of all to the repertory for a cappella chorus. It also collaborates regularly wilth various ensembles like the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century. The repertory of the Netherlands Chamber Choir spans almost the whole of Western music, ranging from the early Middle Ages to contemporary music. Uwe Gronostay has been the artistic director and principal conductor since March 1, 1988. He is responsible for the quality and programming, and also undertakes several projects each year. Furthermore, specialists in specific style periods are invited to work with the Choir, as for instance Reinbert de Leeuw, John Alldis, Rene Jacobs and Paul van Nevel.