SKU: HL.1171048
ISBN 9781705189382. UPC: 196288125099. 9.0x12.0x0.08 inches.
Morten Lauridsen was commissioned by acclaimed violinist Anne Akiko Meyers to make arrangements of his popular songs, “Dirait-on†and “Sure on this Shining Night†which she has recorded on her CD Shining Night, now making these world-famous vocal songs available for violinists to enjoy and to perform in concert.
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.
SKU: HL.1171050
ISBN 9781705189399. UPC: 196288125105. 9.0x12.0x0.186 inches.
SKU: BT.PMC3599
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: PR.701486020
UPC: 888680653941.
O Magnum Mysterium, commissioned by Marshall Rutter in honor of his wife, Terry Knowles, has had several thousand performances throughout the world and dozens of recordings since its 1994 premiere by the Los Angeles Master Chorale. I have also arranged the work for solo voice and piano or organ (recorded on Northwest Journey by Jane Thorngren accompanied by the composer), men's chorus and brass ensemble; H. Robert Reynold's stunning adaptation for symphonic winds was recently premiered in Minneapolis by the Thornton Wind Symphony. For centuries, composers have been inspired by the beautiful O Magnum Mysterium text depicting the birth of the new-born King amongst the lowly animals and shepherds. This affirmation of God's grace to the meek and the adoration of the Blessed Virgin are celebrated in my setting through a quiet song of profound inner joy. – Morten Lauridsen.
SKU: BT.PMC3367
SKU: HL.48185220
UPC: 888680905811. 9.0x12.0x0.114 inches.
Morten Lauridsen: Sonata (Trumpet and Piano).
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SKU: BT.PMC3297
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).
SKU: BT.PMC3676
These two anthems are examples of Lauridsen's style in embryo, as it were, for both were written while the composer was just twenty-seven years old. Both anthems evince the contrapuntal mastery that would prove an enduring featureof the composer's technique. The pure and austere lines of I will lift up mine eyes, an a cappella setting of Psalm 121, evoke ancient organum and the imitative devices of Medieval polyphony. Complex chord structures and elaboratecanonic procedures give O come, let us sing unto the Lord a sense of inexorable forward momentum. The coruscating organ part further enhances the prevailing mood of joy that pervades this anthem. --Byron Adams.