Animam meam dilectam, ZWV 55:15

Jan Dismas Zelenka's Animam meam dilectam opens with a solemn declamation in the bass, soon joined by the other voices in rich, imitative polyphony. This sacred work, set in Latin, is a powerful setting of suffering and abandonment. The text describes the soul delivered into the hands of the wicked, becoming prey to enemies who rise without mercy. The music eloquently conveys this profound lament, with the SATB choir expressing the anguish of being unrecognized and forsaken, a central theme of these Tenebrae responsories.