Filiae Jerusalem, nolite flere

Sung during Lent or Holy Week, this motet by Philippe de Monte sets a passage from the Gospel of Luke. The text, spoken by Jesus on the way to the crucifixion, implores the daughters of Jerusalem not to weep for him but for themselves and their children, foretelling the destruction of Jerusalem. The composer’s setting of these sorrowful words for SAATB voices captures the gravity of the prophecy, with the poignant plea of the text ‘if they do this in the green wood, what will happen in the dry?’ resonating through the polyphony.