Ha! Plange Filia Jerusalem

Guillaume Bouzignac was a composer of the early Baroque period, active in the first half of the 17th century. This motet for double choir (SATBB) is a powerful depiction of the Virgin Mary's sorrow at the foot of the cross. The Latin text expresses intense grief, calling for Jerusalem to lament the suffering of the "virgin daughter of Sion." The composer vividly portrays the physical wounds of Christ, with the heavens and all nature seeming to recoil in horror. Bouzignac's setting is intensely dramatic, using the forces of two choirs to underscore the profound "love" and "pain" of the scene.