LAMENTATIONS (Lat. Lamentationes Hieremiœ). On the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, in Holy Week, the three First Lessons appointed, in the Roman Breviary, for the Office called Tenébrœ, are taken from the Lamentations of Jeremiah; and the extraordinary beauty of the music to which they are sung, in the Sistine Chapel, and other large Churches, contributes not a little to the impressive character of the Service. [See Tenebræ.]
It is impossible to trace to its origin the Plain Chaunt melody to which...