Morten Lauridsen | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Morten Johannes Lauridsen |
Born | Colfax, Washington, U.S. | February 27, 1943
Genres | classical |
Occupation(s) | composer, conductor |
Years active | 1967 – present |
Morten Johannes Lauridsen (born February 27, 1943) is an American composer. A National Medal of Arts recipient (2007), [1] he was composer-in-residence of the Los Angeles Master Chorale from 1994 to 2001, [2] and is the distinguished professor emeritus of composition at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, where he taught for fifty-two years until his retirement in 2019. [3]
A native of the Pacific Northwest, Lauridsen worked as a Forest Service firefighter and lookout (on an isolated tower near Mount St. Helens), where he remained on this tower alone for ten weeks. Lauridsen stated that it was a great time of self-reflection for him, and that it helped him realize that music needed to become a central part of his life. He attended Whitman College for 2 years, before traveling south to study composition at the University of Southern California with Ingolf Dahl, Halsey Stevens, Robert Linn, and Harold Owen. [4] He began teaching at USC in 1967 and has been on their faculty ever since. [3]
In 2006, Lauridsen was named an "American Choral Master" by the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2007, he received the National Medal of Arts from the president in a White House ceremony, "for his composition of radiant choral works combining musical beauty, power and spiritual depth that have thrilled audiences worldwide."
His works have been recorded on more than 200 CDs, five of which have received Grammy Award nominations, including O Magnum Mysterium by the Tiffany Consort, A Company of Voices by Conspirare, Sound The Bells by The Bay Brass, and two all-Lauridsen discs entitled Lux Aeterna by the Los Angeles Master Chorale led by Paul Salamunovich, and Nocturnes with the Polyphony choir and the Britten Sinfonia conducted by Stephen Layton. His principal publishers are Peermusic (New York/Hamburg) and Faber Music (London).
A recipient of numerous grants, prizes, and commissions, Lauridsen chaired the composition department at the USC Thornton School of Music from 1990 to 2002 and founded the school's advanced studies program in film scoring. He has held residencies as guest composer/lecturer at over 100 universities and has received honorary doctorates from Oklahoma State University, Westminster Choir College, King's College, University of Aberdeen, Scotland, and Whitman College. In 2014 he was invited to be honorary artistic president of Interkultur/World Choir Games. In 2016 he was awarded the ASCAP Foundation Life in Music Award. In late February 2020, via an update on his Facebook page, Lauridsen revealed he had retired from the Thornton School of Music in the spring of 2019, after having taught classes there for over 50 years. He will still travel to university residencies and concerts worldwide. [5]
Lauridsen now divides his time between Los Angeles and his home in the San Juan Archipelago off the northern coast of Washington State.
His eight vocal cycles and two collections—Les Chansons des Roses (Rilke), Mid-Winter Songs (Graves), A Winter Come (Moss), Madrigali: Six "FireSongs" on Italian Renaissance Poems, Nocturnes (Rilke, Neruda and Agee), Cuatro Canciones (Lorca), Four Madrigals on Renaissance Texts, A Backyard Universe, Five Songs on American Poems (Moss, Witt, Gioia and Agee) and Lux Aeterna—his series of sacred a cappella motets ( O magnum mysterium , Ave Maria, O Nata Lux, Ubi caritas et amor, and Ave Dulcissima Maria) and numerous instrumental works are featured regularly in concert by distinguished artists and ensembles throughout the world. O Magnum Mysterium, Dirait-on (from Les Chansons des Roses), O Nata Lux (from Lux Aeterna) and Sure On This Shining Night (from Nocturnes) have become the all-time best-selling choral octavos distributed by Theodore Presser, in business since 1783. [6]
His musical approaches are very diverse, ranging from direct to abstract in response to various characteristics (subject matter, language, style, structure, historical era, etc.) of the texts he sets. His Latin sacred settings, such as the Lux Aeterna and motets, often reference Gregorian chant plus Medieval and Renaissance procedures while blending them within a freshly contemporary sound while other works such as the Madrigali and Cuatro Canciones are highly chromatic or atonal. His music has an overall lyricism and is tightly constructed around melodic and harmonic motifs.
Referring to Lauridsen's sacred music, the musicologist and conductor Nick Strimple said he is "the only American composer in history who can be called a mystic, (whose) probing, serene work contains an elusive and indefinable ingredient which leaves the impression that all the questions have been answered." [7] From 1993, Lauridsen's music rapidly increased in international popularity, and by century's end he had eclipsed Randall Thompson as the most frequently performed American choral composer." [8]
Date | Composition/Song Cycle | Movements |
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2012 | Prayer (On a Poem by Dana Gioia ) | |
2008 | Canticle/O Vos Omnes | |
2006 | Chanson Eloignee (Rilke ) | |
2005 | Nocturnes (written for the American Choral Directors Association's Brock Commission [9] ) | I. Sa Nuit d'Été (Rainer Maria Rilke) II. Soneto de la Noche (Pablo Neruda) III. Sure on this Shining Night (James Agee) IV. Epilogue: Voici le soir (Rilke, added in 2008) |
2004 | Ave Dulcissima Maria (written for the Harvard Glee Club) | |
1999 | Ubi Caritas et Amor | |
1997 | Lux Aeterna [10] (Text and Translation) | I. Introitus II. In Te, Domine, Speravi III. O Nata Lux IV. Veni, Sancte Spiritus V. Agnus Dei |
1997 | Ave Maria [10] | |
1994 | O Magnum Mysterium [10] | |
1993 | Les Chansons des Roses [10] (settings of poems by Rainer Maria Rilke) | I. En Une Seule Fleur II. Contre Qui, Rose III. De Ton Rêve Trop Plein IV. La Rose Complète V. Dirait-on |
1987 | Madrigali: Six "Firesongs" on Italian Renaissance Poems | I. Ov'è, Lass', Il Bel Viso? II. Quando Son Piu Lontan III. Amor, Io Sento L'alma IV. Io Piango V. Luci Serene e Chiare VI. Se Per Havervi, Oime |
1981 | Cuatro Canciones Sobre Poesias de Federico García Lorca [11] | |
1980 | Mid-Winter Songs [10] (on poems by Robert Graves) | I. Lament for Pasiphaë II. Like Snow III. She Tells Her Love While Half Asleep IV. Mid-Winter Waking V. Intercession in Late October |
1976 | Where Have the Actors Gone | |
1970 | I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes | |
1970 | O Come, Let Us Sing Unto the Lord | |
1967 | A Winter Come (on poems by Howard Moss) | I. When Frost Moves Fast II. As Birds Come Nearer III. The Racing Waterfall IV. A Child Lay Down V. Who Reads By Starlight VI. And What Of Love |
1965 | A Backyard Universe |
Over 200 recordings of works by Morten Lauridsen have been released, including five that have received Grammy nominations.
Nine All-Lauridsen CDs:
Lauridsen: Lux Aeterna Los Angeles Master Chorale Paul Salamunovich Grammy nomination (1998) Lux Aeterna (Orchestral Version), Les Chansons des Roses, Ave Maria, Mid-Winter Songs (Orchestral Version), O Magnum Mysterium RCM |
Lauridsen: Northwest Journey Chamber works performed by artists Ralph Grierson, Jane Thorngren, Viklarbo Ensemble, Donald Brinegar Singers, Shelly Berg, Sunny Wilkinson, James Drollinger and Morten Lauridsen includes Where Have the Actors Gone, Dirait-on (Duet Version), Ubi Caritas et Amor, A Winter Come, Variations, Cuatro Canciones, Madrigali and O Magnum Mysterium (Piano/Vocal Version). RCM |
O Magnum Mysterium European CD by the Nordic Chamber Choir conducted by Nicol Matt, includes the Madrigali, Lux Aeterna (Organ version), O Magnum Mysterium and Les Chansons des Roses. Hanssler Recordings |
Lauridsen – Lux Aeterna Performed by the Britten Sinfonia and Polyphony Chorus conducted by Maestro Stephen Layton, received a 2005 Grammy nomination and includes the Lux Aeterna (Orchestral Version), Madrigali, Ave Maria, Ubi Caritas et Amor and O Magnum Mysterium, Hyperion Records |
Lauridsen – Nocturnes Performed by the Britten Sinfonia and Polyphony Chorus (with Morten Lauridsen, piano and Andrew Lumsden, organ) conducted by Maestro Stephen Layton includes the Mid-Winter Songs on Poems by Robert Graves, Les Chansons des Roses (Rilke), I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes, O Come Let Us Sing Unto The Lord, Ave Dulcissima Maria and Nocturnes. |
Dialogues: Musical Conversations between Composer and Conductors- This 3-CD set contains conversations between Morten Lauridsen and conductors Paul Salamunovich and James Jordan discussing Morten Lauridsen's compositions, with demonstrations by Lauridsen at the piano, GIA Publications |
Sure On This Shining Night Performed by the Hartford, Conn. chamber choir, Voce, and the Voce Chamber Artists contains movements from six vocal cycles plus four premiere CD recordings. Morten Lauridsen accompanies at the piano on several works. Voce Recordings |
Lauridsen – Mid-Winter Songs Performed by The Singers – Minnesota Choral Artists contains the complete Nocturnes, Mid-Winter Songs, Four Madrigals on Renaissance Texts and Les Chansons des Roses, plus Three Psalm Settings. The Singers-Minnesota Choral Artists Recordings |
Prayer: The Songs of Morten Lauridsen Performed by Jeremy Huw Williams, Baritone; Paula Fan, Piano; Caryl Hughes, Soprano – contains the songs of the composer. Cowitz Bay Recordings |
Morten Lauridsen is currently one of America's most performed composers, [8] with hundreds of performances each year throughout the world in venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Vatican, Sydney Opera House and Westminster Abbey. Over one million copies of his scores have been sold and his Dirait-on, O Magnum Mysterium and O Nata Lux have become the all-time best selling octavos distributed by the Theodore Presser Co., in business since 1783.
Recordings of Morten Lauridsen's compositions are featured regularly on radio broadcasts throughout the United States, and he is a frequent interview guest on radio and television programs, including a recent KCET Life and Times program, the oft-repeated national broadcast of "A Portrait of Morten Lauridsen" on First Art, and a nationally broadcast Christmas Day feature on NPR's Weekend Edition with Scott Simon. He has been profiled in several extended printed articles, including those in the Los Angeles Times "Calendar", Seattle Times, Choral Journal, Choir and Organ, Chorus America's Voice, Fanfare Magazine, and the Wall Street Journal. He has received over four hundred commission requests, most recently from Harvard University, the American Choral Director's Association and the Pacific Chorale, and is a frequent guest lecturer and Artist/Composer-in-Residence.
His principal publishers are Peermusic (New York/Hamburg) and Peer's affiliate, Faber Music (London).
Years | Program | Position |
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1968–69 | Jascha Heifetz Master Classes | Theory Instructor |
1966 | USC Music Preparatory Department | Established Theory Program |
1970–90 | Thornton School of Music Undergraduate Theory Program | Coordinator |
1972–2019 | USC Thornton School of Music | Full-Time Faculty |
Scoring for Motion Pictures and TV Advanced Studies Program, Thornton School of Music, USC | Founder | |
1990–2002 | Composition department at the USC Thornton School of Music | Chair |
Current | USC Thornton School of Music | Distinguished Professor of Composition |
In addition to these positions, Lauridsen has served as Artistic Advisor on the Boards of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Dale Warland Singers, I Cantori (New York), USC Scoring for Films/TV Program, National Children's Chorus, Creative Kids Education Foundation, Volti (San Francisco Chamber Singers), New York City Master Chorale, Jacaranda, and Angeles Chorale.
"It's a Still Life That Runs Deep: The Influence of Zurbaran's Still Life With Lemons, Oranges and a Rose on Morten Lauridsen's Composition 'O Magnum Mysterium'", Wall Street Journal, February 21, 2009
foreword to the book, Evoking Sound, by James Jordan, GIA Publications, 2009
"Morten Lauridsen on Composing Choral Music," a chapter in the book Contemporary Choral Music Composers, GIA Publications, 2007
Liner notes for the CD Randall Thompson—The Peaceable Kingdom, Schola Cantorum of Oxford, Hyperion Records
"Remembering Halsey Stevens," National Association of Composer Journal, 1990
The 2012 documentary film Shining Night: A Portrait of Composer Morten Lauridsen portrays the composer at his Waldron Island retreat and in rehearsals in California and Scotland. Commentaries about the composer by poet Dana Gioia, conductor Paul Salamunovich, composer/conductor Paul Mealor, composer Alex Shapiro and conductor Robert Geary, along with performances by the San Francisco Choral Society, University of Aberdeen Choral Society and Orchestra, Con Anima Chamber Choir and Volti, are featured. Works include O Magnum Mysterium, Lux Aeterna, Madrigali, Dirait-on, and Nocturnes, with soundtracks by Polyphony and the Britten Sinfonia (conducted by Stephen Layton), The Singers: Minnesota Choral Artists (conducted by Matthew Culloton), and the Dale Warland Singers (conducted by Dale Warland). [12]
The Los Angeles Master Chorale is a professional chorus in Los Angeles, California, and one of the resident companies of both The Music Center and Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. It was founded in 1964 by Roger Wagner to be one of the three original resident companies of the Music Center of Los Angeles County. Grant Gershon has been its music director since 2001, replacing Paul Salamunovich.
Eric Edward Whitacre is an American composer, conductor, and speaker best known for his choral music. In March 2016, he was appointed as Los Angeles Master Chorale's first artist-in-residence at the Walt Disney Concert Hall.
O magnum mysterium is a responsorial chant from the Matins of Christmas.
Lux Aeterna may refer to:
The USC Thornton School of Music is a private music school in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1884 only four years after the University of Southern California, the Thornton School is the oldest continually operating arts institution in Los Angeles. The school is located on the USC University Park Campus, south of Downtown Los Angeles.
Frank Ticheli is an American composer of orchestral, choral, chamber, and concert band works. He lives in Los Angeles, California, where he is a Professor Emeritus of Composition at the University of Southern California. He was the Pacific Symphony's composer-in-residence from 1991 to 1998, composing numerous works for that orchestra. A number of his works are particularly notable, as they have become standards in concert band repertoire.
The Rhodes Singers are a noted undergraduate choir from Rhodes College in Memphis, TN, specializing in smaller, unaccompanied chamber music works. They are directed by Dr. William Skoog.
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Dr. William John Dehning was an American conductor, teacher, and author who spent almost his entire career in the collegiate realm. He was known primarily for his work as conductor of the University of Southern California Thornton Chamber Choir and as author of the book, Chorus Confidential: Decoding the Secrets of the Choral Art, published in 2003. Under his leadership, the Thornton Chamber Choir won seven prizes in international European competitions, including Grand Prizes in Varna, Bulgaria and Tours, France. After winning the choral competition with the USC Chamber Choir in Bulgaria, Dehning was awarded the Judges' Conducting Prize by a panel of ten judges in 1999. During his tenure, the ensemble also appeared at American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) conventions six times, including nationals in 2001 and 2005. They also completed a tour of East Asia in 2006, performing at the National Concert Hall in Taipei. While at Northern Michigan University from 1970–1972, Dehning was the founder of the Marquette Choral Society, which is still active. Later, he was from 1985-1995 the founder/conductor of the California Choral Company, a semi-professional chamber chorus that attained a reputation in Europe as well as in the United States. As Chairman of the USC Department of Choral Music, Dehning was awarded the first annual Dean’s Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching, and he was also the 2007 recipient of the Thornton School's Ramo Award. Dehning was one of four founding members of the National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO), which held its first national conference in San Antonio in 2006.
Daniel Ernest Forrest Jr. is an American composer, pianist, educator, and music editor.
Dale Warland is an American conductor, composer, founder of the Grammy-nominated Dale Warland Singers, scholar, teacher, choral consultant, and renowned champion of contemporary choral composers. Warland is one of only two choral conductors inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame.
Polyphony is a small English choir formed by Stephen Layton for one particular concert put on in King's College, Cambridge in 1986. They have released many critically acclaimed recordings, the most recent of which is Esenvalds - Passion & Resurrection. They record and perform a wide range of music mainly on Hyperion Records. Every year they perform Handel's Messiah and Bach's St John Passion in St John's Smith Square to sell-out audiences. Many of their recordings have been Gramophone editor's choice.
Paul Salamunovich KCSG was a Grammy-nominated, American conductor and educator.
The New York City Master Chorale (NYCMC) is a 60-person non-profit chorus, led by Artistic Director David Recca. NYCMC was founded in 2005 by Dr. Thea Kano, and directed by her until 2019. From 2019 to 2021, the Chorale's Artistic Director and conductor was Dusty Francis. In July 2021, the Chorale announced David Recca as the new Artistic Director with the mission “to connect people through chorale music by presenting high-quality concerts inspired by the distinct energy, diversity, and talent of New York City.”
Zane Randall Stroope is an American composer and conductor. He has published more than 190 works, with: Oxford University Press, Carl Fischer, Alliance Music Publishing, Walton, Colla Voce, and Lorenz.
Shining Night: A Portrait of Composer Morten Lauridsen is a 2012 documentary film about the American choral composer Morten Lauridsen,, National Medal of Arts recipient (2007) and most-performed living American choral composer.
Still Life with Lemons, Oranges and a Rose is an oil-on-canvas painting by Baroque Spanish artist Francisco de Zurbarán completed in 1633. It is currently displayed at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California as part of its permanent collection. It is the only still life signed and dated by him and is considered a masterwork of the genre.
O magnum mysterium (1569) is a six-part motet by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, based on the responsorial chant of the same name, and was written for the celebration of Christmas. The piece is intended to express the joy and awe that was felt by the shepherds as they celebrated and worshiped the Christ-child in the manger on Christmas Eve. Palestrina took the text for this piece from the first half of the third and fourth Responsories of Matins on Christmas Day. The text has been set many times by numerous composers, such as Palestrina, Poulenc, Lauridsen, and Morales.
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O magnum mysterium is a motet for choir a cappella by Morten Lauridsen. He set the text of "O magnum mysterium", a Gregorian chant for Christmas, in 1994. The composition, performed and recorded often, made Lauridsen famous. It was described as expressive ethereal sounds in imperturbable calmness.