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

Composed in 1997 Morten Lauridsen's Ave Maria is a texturally rich eight-part setting of the most loved of Marian antiphons. This treatment recalls the sumptious polychoral music of Gabrieli as well as the rich textures of Brahms' music for unaccompanied SATB choir. Faber Choral Signature Series 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.

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

Morten Lauridsen’s setting of Lux Aeterna a five movement non-liturgical requiem for choir and chamber orchestra/organ is a rich and intensely moving work. Choral textures are fully explored from the sonorous slow unfolding of the Introitus and the intricate counterpoint and paired voices of In Te Domine Speravi to the cappella motet O Nata Lux and spirited canticle Veni Sancte Spiritus. The last movement a sublime Agnus Dei preceding the final Lux Aeterna closes with a joyous Alleluia to provide an uplifting conclusion to this most powerful work.Available here is the vocal scorefor SATB divisi chorus with Organ Accompaniment.

Morten Lauridsen's I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes was written for Stephen Layton and Polyphony and has been recorded on Lauridsen: Nocturnes (Hyperion CDA 67580). Purchase the sheet music here arranged for mixed vocal chorus.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'.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.

Mixed Duet and Piano-Based on the Dana Gioia poem of the same name Prayer may be performed alone or as a companion piece to the mixed duet setting of Sure on this shining night (HL00229264).

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

Ces chansons de feu ont été inspirés par les chorales chefs-d'oeuvre de la haute Renaissance, surtout les madrigaux par Monteverdi et Gesualdo. Il s'agit d'un cycle intensément dramatique basé sur des poèmes d'amour Renaissance, mélangeant des caractéristiques stylistiques musicales de la période avec un idiome contemporain mélodique. / Voix Mixtes

Madrigals by the Renaissance composer Monteverdi provided the inspiration for my own Madrigali. Symbolic images of flames burning and fire recur often in Italian love poems from this era and my cycle on texts employingthis fire motive blends stylistic musical features of the period (word painting modality bold harmonic shifts intricate counterpoint augenmusik etc.) within a contemporary compositional idiom. The music emanates from asingle primal sonority (the “Fire-Chord”) which opens the piece and is found extensively throughout all six movements in myriad forms and manipulations providing motivic unity to complement the poetic. This cycle ofmadrigals has been designated an American Choral Masterpiece by the National Endowment for the Arts.--Morten Lauridsen

Now available for women's voices! “Sure on this shining night of starmade shadows round kindness must watch for me this side the ground...” In this third movement of his song cycle Nocturnes  Morten Lauridsen's flowing music captures all of the beauty and wonder of James Agee's poem.