Morten Lauridsen

Par LAURIDSEN MORTEN. Nocturnes addresses aspects of the common theme of 'Night'. Morten Lauridsen 's setting of Rilke's impassioned and atmospheric Sa Nuit D'été is rich with dense, colourful harmonies, while Soneto De La Noche is quiet, serene and folk-like, reflecting the eloquence with which the poet, Pablo Neruda, speaks of everlasting, eternal love. Sure On This Shining Night is a lyrical, beautiful setting of James Agee's well known love poem. We return to Rilke in the epilogue, Voici Le Soir , bringing the Nocturnes to a quiet end as darkness arrives. A Piano accompaniment is included where required. / Niveau : Intermédiaire à Avancé / Répertoire / SATB

Par LAURIDSEN MORTEN. O Come, Let Us Sing Unto The Lord was written for Stephen Layton and Polyphony by Morten Lauridsen. Purchase the sheet music for unaccompanied SATB chorus. This setting has been recorded on Lauridsen: Nocturnes (Hyperion, CDA 67580). In speaking of Lauridsen in his book Choral Music in the Twentieth Century, the author Nick Strimple says of him, 'he is the only American composer in history who can be called mystic, (whose) probing, serene work contains all the elusive and indefinable ingredient which leaves the impression that all questions have been answered. . . From 1993 Lauridsen's music rapidly increased in international popularity, and by the centuy's end he hadeclipsed Tandall Thompson as the most frequently performed American choral composer'./ Feuillet / SATB

Par LAURIDSEN MORTEN. Based on Italian Renaissance poems, Madrigali is an intensely dramatic a capella cycle. Rich with the symbolic imagery of flames, burnig and fire, and unified musically by the Fire Chord , these are lyrical and stunningly crafted choral settings. Morten Lauridsen is most noted for his vocal cycles and sacred motets, which are performed extensively around the world. / Niveau : Assez Facile / Date parution : 2004-09-02/ Répertoire / SATB

Par LAURIDSEN MORTEN. Morten Lauridsen's lyrical settings of Rilke's 'Les Roses' have already become part of the mainstream choral repertory. Deftly crafted and elegant in their imagery, 'Les Chansons De Roses' enhance the characteristic of the poems and capture their delicate beauty and sensuousness. / Niveau : Elémentaire / Date parution : 2003-08-28/ Répertoire / SATB

Par LAURIDSEN MORTEN. Ubi caritas et amor' dates from 1999 and was commissioned by Loyola Marymount University to celebrate the life of choral director and scholar Father Richard Trame. A setting of an antiphon for Maunday Thursday, Lauridsen Replaced by new ISBNtly adapts the plainchant melody, adorning it with contrapuntal elaborations./ Feuillet / Choeur

In addition to his vast output of German poetry, Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) composed nearly 400 poems in French. His poems on roses struck me as especially charming, filled with gorgeous lyricism, deftly crafted and elegant in their imagery. These exquisite poems are primarily light, joyous and playful, and the musical settings are designed to enhance these characteristics and capture the delicate beauty and sensuousness of the poetry. Distinct melodic and harmonic materials recur throughout the cycle, especially between Rilke's poignant 'Contre qui, rose? (set as a wistful nocturne) and his moving 'La rose complète.? The final piece, 'Dirait-on,? is composed as a tuneful chanson populaire, or folksong, that weaves together two melodic ideas first heard in fragmentary form in preceding movements. / Choeur Mixte (SATB) Et Piano

Par LAURIDSEN MORTEN. Four poems sharing a common motif of 'Night' provide the texts for my choral cycle Nocturnes, the American Choral Directors Association's commissioned work for its 2005 national convention. For Rilke's atmospheric 'Sa nuit d'ete,” several melodic themes are supported by dense, colorful harmonies in both the choral and piano parts, leading to a climactic section where all are combined and stated simultaneously. Neruda's 'Soneto de la Noche,” from his Cien Sonetos de Amor, speaks of an eternal love that transcends death while reaffirming life. My a cappella setting of this gorgeous poem is predominantly quiet, serene and folk-like, utilizing direct harmonies accompanying long, lyrical vocal lines. Agee's wondrous 'Sure on this Shining Night” is set much like a song from the American musical theater, a genre for which I have held a life-long esteem. Rilke's poignant 'Voici le soir” recalls the opening bell sounds and jazz-tinged chords of the first movement and serves as an epilogue, quietly concluding this cycle of night songs as darkness descends. --Morten Lauridsen/ Feuillet / Choeur Mixte (SATB) et Piano

Each of the five connected movements in this choral cycle contains references to 'Light ' assembled from various sacred Latin texts. I composed Lux Aeterna in response to my mother's final illness and found great personalcomfort and solace in setting to music these timeless and wondrous words about Light a universal symbol of illumination at all levels - spiritual artistic and intellectual.The work opens and closes with the beginning andending of the Requiem Mass with the central three movements drawn respectively from the Te Deum O Nata Lux and Veni Sancte Spiritus. The opening Introitus introduces several themes that recur later in thework and includes an extended canon on “et lux perpetua.” In Te Domine Speravi contains among other musical elements the cantus firmus “Herzliebster Jesu” (from the Nuremburg Songbook 1677) and a lengthy inverted canon on “fiat misericordia.” O Nata Lux and Veni Sancte Spiritus are paired songs the former an a cappella motet at the center of the work and the latter a spirited jubilant canticle. A quiet setting of the Agnus Dei precedes the final Lux Aeterna which reprises the opening section of the Introitus and concludes with a joyful celebratory Alleluia.--MortenLauridsen

SATB Jazz Choir a cappella-This work by Morten Lauridsen was premiered and recorded by jazz vocalist Sunny Wilkinson and is now available in a composer-authorized arrangement for a cappella jazz choir.