About
The time of Lent, as a period of penitence and spiritual renewal, culminates in Holy Week with the Easter Triduum celebrating the Passion of Christ: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. On each of these days, the offices of Matins and Lauds form a single long Office of Darkness (Tenebrae) describing the path from light to darkness. These three days are fundamental in the Christian calendar with numerous 16th and 17th century Portuguese sources of plainchant and polyphony for those ceremonies still preserved. We offer an overview of the music intended for these Offices of Darkness – Ad Tenebras – found in sources from the Monastery of Santa Cruz in Coimbra, today preserved in the General Library of the University of Coimbra (BGUC) and following what might have been their original liturgical order.
Artistic and Musical Direction
Tiago Simas Freire
Voices
-
Camille Fritsch – mezzo
-
Sylvain Manet – high
-
Almeno Gonçalves – tenor
-
Luis Neiva – bass
Flutes
-
Tiago Simas Freire
-
Pedro Sousa Silva
-
Carlos Sánchez
-
José Rodrigues Gomes
Recording Engineer
Camille Frachet
Digital Editing
-
Camille Frachet
-
Aude Besnard
-
Tiago Simas Freire
Publisher
Coimbra University Press
Label
Artway Records