This monophonic conductus laments the departure of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, for France in November 1164 following his dispute with King Henry II. The poem, full of biblical resonance, associates Thomas’s departure from England with the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt, followed by the Massacre of the Innocents ordered by Herod (Matthew 2: 18: ‘In Rama there was a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children …’). The poem then associates Thomas’s exile with that of Joseph who was sold into slavery in Egypt (Genesis 37).
from notes by Christopher Page © 1994
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