In Perle's Songs of Praise and Lamentation for chorus and orchestra, the musical borrowings are closely linked to literary references. The work consists of three movements: the first is a setting in Hebrew of Psalm 18, verses 4-15; the second is an a cappella setting of four poems by Rainer Maria Rilke from his Sonnets to Orpheus; and the third sets a poem by John Hollander written for this piece. Perle's style as exemplified in this work rests on his personal theory of twelve-tone modality as well as on the influences of other composers. The work laments the deaths of a number of composers through the use of borrowed music. The borrowings include Gregorian chant, Hebrew chant, and a number of specific works that follow the theme of lamentation. For example, Perle uses Ockeghem's Déploration sur la mort de Binchois, followed by Josquin's La Déploration de Johan Okeghem, followed in turn by Vinders's Lamentatio super morte Josquin de Prés. In the third movement, the roles of poetry and music are woven together most tightly. Hollander's poem refers to past poets as Perle's music refers to composers.

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Jessica Sternfeld