Morten Lauridsen

Par LAURIDSEN MORTEN. Composé en 1997, 'Ave Maria' du Lauridsen est un paramètre de texture riche, huit-partie de la plus proche des antiennes mariales. Ce traitement rappelle la musique de polychoral de sumptious de Gabrieli ainsi que les textures riches de choeur fro non accompagné de musique Brahms./ Répertoire / Choeur

Par LAURIDSEN MORTEN. For centuries, composers have been inspired by the beautiful O Magnum Mysterium text depicting the birth of the new-born King among the lowly animals and shepherds. This setting for unaccompanied SATB divisi by Morten Lauridsen, one of America's most loved and most performed living choral composers, is rich in colour, deeply spiritual and intensely moving. It is rated as 'reasonably straightforward' to sing so suitable for the majority of choirs. A Piano part is included in the score for rehearsal purposes only. / Niveau : Facile / Feuillet / Choeur

Par LAURIDSEN MORTEN. Lauridsen's setting of the O Nata Lux , a serene motet, is the central movement of his larger work Lux Aeterna , and is arranged here for unaccompanied SATB chorus. / Niveau : Elémentaire / Musique religieuse / Feuillet / Choeur

Par LAURIDSEN MORTEN. Lauridsen's setting of the Ave Dulcissima Maria combines passages of chant with more melodic homophony, and is written for unaccompanied male voices. The piece was commissioned by the Harvard Glee Club Foundation. / Niveau : Elémentaire / Feuillet / Choeur

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

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.

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 intheir 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 melodicand 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.--Morten Lauridsen

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

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 ?Sanuit 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 laNoche ? 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 directharmonies 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'spoignant ?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.--MortenLauridsen