Tenebrae Factae Sunt

Originally used as the Fifth Responsory of the Tenebrae of Good Friday (the service which, until 1955, was sung on Holy Thursday evening), the Tenebrae factae sunt is a somber text depicting Jesus's last moments on the cross. Moving and powerful, this piece for unaccompanied SATBB is appropriately mournful, but sublime. Nicholson's voicing requires a choir with enormous range: sopranos must be able to reach an A, while the basses must be able to sing from E2 to D4. Interior voices have similarly challenging ranges.