Format : Vocal Score
My esteem for the great Broadway songwriters has only deepened over the years. Their enduring rich legacy of quintessentially American music has certainly influenced my music during my entire career especially in the creation ofwhat I hope to have been elegant and gracious lines for those singing my works. Where Have the Actors Gone my contribution to the genre of theater/cabaret songs tells of the end of a love relationship through anallegorical tale of actors bringing their play to a close and parting ways. It was first introduced by jazz vocalist Sunny Wilkinson at the Improv Theater in Los Angeles and later recorded by Sunny with keyboard artist Shelly Bergon Lauridsen - Northwest Journey (RCM 12001).--Morten Lauridsen
SKU: BT.PMC3465
SKU: BT.PMC3926
Freebairn-Smith, Ian, arr.
SKU: BT.PMC3603
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 CienSonetos 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 bellsounds 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.