Format : Vocal Score
Lauridsen's O Nata Lux is a serene a cappella motet celebrating the Redeemer and is part of the larger Lux Aeterna for Chorus Orchestra and Organ. The changes in meter accommodate the natural rhythm of the chant. This piece is from Faber's Choral Signature Series which introduces a wealth of new or recently written choral music to choirs in search of fresh repertoire. the series draws in a rich diversity of living composers and includes both lighter and more challenging contemporary works offering a thrilling array of varied styles.
SKU: BT.PMC3367
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 personal comfortand 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 and ending of theRequiem 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 the work and includes an extended canonon 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 openingsection of the Introitus and concludes with a joyful celebratory Alleluia. --Morten Lauridsen.
SKU: BT.PMC3599
