Morten Lauridsen: Chansons Des Roses: SATB: Vocal Score

Morten Lauridsen's setting of Chanson Eloignee arranged for unaccompanied SATB choir.Lauridsen was commissioned by the Pacific Chorale (Directed by John Alexander) to write an a capella work for their inaugural concert at the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa California which took place on the 22nd October 2006. Lauridsen chose to set a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke (having used works by the same author in his Les Chansons des Roses and Nocturnes) and chose the text Chanson Eloignee (Distant Song).Faber New Choral Works introduces a wealth of new or recently written choral music to choirs in search of fresh repertoire. The series draws in a richdiversity of living composers and includes both lighter and more challenging contemporary works offering a thrilling array of varied styles.

Les Chansons des Roses-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

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

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

from Les Chansons des Roses-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. 'Les Chansons des Roses' was premiered and recorded in 1993 by Portland Oregon ''s celebrated chamber choir Choral Cross-Ties conducted by Bruce Browne. The complete cycle has been widely performed since then and also recorded by the Los Angeles Master Chorale Los Angeles Chamber Singers Nordic Chamber Choir and tonight's performers the Donald Brinegar Singers. (Morten Lauridsen)

Dirait-sur le cinquième mouvement de Les Chansons des Roses, est définie comme une chanson mélodieuses populaire, ou folksong, qui tisse deux idées mélodiques d'abord entendues sous forme fragmentaire dans les mouvements précédents du cycle choal. / Voix Basses