Lauridsen: Lux Aeterna, etc. / Salamunovich, Los Angeles Master Chorale

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Modern choral music for amateur singers may be America's biggest musical underground. That's the only explanation of why Grammy-nominated composer Morten Lauridsen can claim that his works are some of the most often-performed new pieces in years, although few among the East Coast intelligentsia have ever heard of him. Like the similarly popular John Rutter, Lauridsen inhabits an extremely conservative style directed simply and single-mindedly at showing off the beauty of choral singing while it illustrates inspiring texts. Unlike many of his fellow neo-Romantic conservatives, Lauridsen displays a brand of conservatism that is completely convincing and sincere. His music also has range, from the spellbindingly rapturous Lux aeterna to his playful settings of Rilke's poems about the beauty and thorniness of roses in Les chansons des roses. There is, moreover, a Coplandesque streak heard in his Mid-Winter Songs, which are settings of poems by Robert Graves. Though the Los Angeles Master Chorale has a suitably red-blooded sound, the music would be better served with more precise diction. --David Patrick Stearns

New York Times, January 30, 2000
Lauridsen enjoys respect of music directors throughout America. Beauty, potency...grand/intimate works. Perpetual light shines on all the settings.

Lauridsen: Lux Aeterna, etc. / Salamunovich, Los Angeles Master Chorale

Lauridsen: Lux Aeterna, etc. / Salamunovich, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Music, M. Lauridsen, Chamber Music & Recitals, Choral, Choral Music, Classical, Classical Composers, Classical Music, Miscellaneous Music
Lauridsen: Lux Aeterna, etc. / Salamunovich, Los Angeles Master Chorale
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Review of Lauridsen: Lux Aeterna/Salamunovich, Los Angeles Master Chorale
  • So beautiful that it hurts.
  • Excellent
  • Great CD
  • Glorious, but not Perfection
Lauridsen: Lux Aeterna, etc. / Salamunovich, Los Angeles Master Chorale
M. Lauridsen
Manufacturer: Rubeda Canis Musica
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

All Works by LauridsenAll Works by Lauridsen | Lauridsen, Morten | ( L ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
Chamber MusicChamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Similar Items:
  1. Eric Whitacre: The Complete A Cappella Works, 1991-2001
  2. Morten Lauridsen: Lux aeterna
  3. O Magnum Mysterium
  4. Eric Whitacre: Cloudburst and other choral works
  5. Lauridsen: Northwest Journey

ASIN: B000006OF1
Release Date: 1998-05-19

Tracks:

  1. Introitus - Lux Aeterna
  2. In Te, Domine, Speravi - Lux Aeterna
  3. O Nata Lux - Lux Aeterna
  4. Veni, Sancte Spiritus - Lux Aeterna
  5. Agnus Dei - Lus Aeterna - Lux Aeterna
  6. En Une Seule Fleur - Les Chansons Des Roses
  7. Contre Qui, Rose - Les Chansons Des Roses
  8. De Ton Reve Trop Plein - Les Chansons Des Roses
  9. La Rose Complete - Les Chansons Des Roses
  10. Dirait - On - Les Chansons Des Roses
  11. Ave Maria - Ave Maria
  12. MID WINTER SONGS: Lament For Pasiphae - M. LAURIDSEN
  13. MID WINTER SONGS: Like Snow - M. LAURIDSEN
  14. MID WINTER SONGS: She Tells Her Love While Half Asleep - M. LAURIDSEN
  15. MID WINTER SONGS: Mid-Winter Waking - M. LAURIDSEN
  16. MID WINTER SONGS: Intercession In Late October - M. LAURIDSEN
  17. O Magnum Mysterium - O Magnum Mysterium

Amazon.com

Modern choral music for amateur singers may be America's biggest musical underground. That's the only explanation of why Grammy-nominated composer Morten Lauridsen can claim that his works are some of the most often-performed new pieces in years, although few among the East Coast intelligentsia have ever heard of him. Like the similarly popular John Rutter, Lauridsen inhabits an extremely conservative style directed simply and single-mindedly at showing off the beauty of choral singing while it illustrates inspiring texts. Unlike many of his fellow neo-Romantic conservatives, Lauridsen displays a brand of conservatism that is completely convincing and sincere. His music also has range, from the spellbindingly rapturous Lux aeterna to his playful settings of Rilke's poems about the beauty and thorniness of roses in Les chansons des roses. There is, moreover, a Coplandesque streak heard in his Mid-Winter Songs, which are settings of poems by Robert Graves. Though the Los Angeles Master Chorale has a suitably red-blooded sound, the music would be better served with more precise diction. --David Patrick Stearns

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Review of Lauridsen: Lux Aeterna/Salamunovich, Los Angeles Master Chorale.......2007-05-13

This is a fabulous CD! I have sung at least one of the compositions on the CD in a choral society to which I belong. I am also familiar with the composer and love his music. The Los Angeles Master Chorale is a wonderful music group!

5 out of 5 stars So beautiful that it hurts........2007-04-27

Two days ago I had never heard of Morten Lauridsen (shame on me). Our local PBS station (WITF in Harrisburg, PA) opened its morning show a few days ago at 9 AM with his lovely "Sure on This Shining Night," a segment of a poem by James Agee. I could not work for an hour after hearing it. Students entered my office and left quickly at the sight of my dazed look. I immediately purchased three recordings, and this one, "Lux Aeterna," is my favorite. The music is so beautiful that it hurts.

Buy this album now. The music is truly exquisite. The performance is outstanding. The CD is a masterpiece. After one hearing of Lauridsen's "Lux Aeterna," I tell you the truth: I could not sleep the entire night. The music was with me all night, and it continues to resonate through my soul.

5 out of 5 stars Excellent.......2007-04-06

Excellent recording - Lauridsen music represents the best choral composers of this age. This CD captures as many of his best compositions as one can expect - Great buy.

5 out of 5 stars Great CD.......2007-02-17

I purchased this CD a couple of years ago when my daughter was working up a couple of Lauridsen works for an audition recording she was doing for her college application (she got in). Besides the sentimental association with that time, this CD has remained a treasured part of out listening library. These are truly 20th century masterpieces of choral music. The recording is among the very best of any type that I have heard. Even if you don't normally like choral music this is a CD to treasure.

5 out of 5 stars Glorious, but not Perfection.......2007-01-20

Morten Lauridsen has a style as distinctively recognizable as Mozart or Beethoven--if you have heard or sung a few of his works, an unfamiliar title will still sound like an old friend. I have to admit I love the aural world which Lauridsen creates.

This recording displays Lauridsen at his best--the long-standing working relationship between the Los Angeles Master Chorale and the composer give these performances an authority and credibility which would be the envy of any group. The Chorale voices display a depth and maturity (particularly in the Bass and Alto sections) which I miss in college choirs, yet the control is perfect.

The works are recorded in the Sacred Heart Chapel of Loyola Marymount University--a very live acoustic, which contributes to the wonderful sense of blend and sonic depth in these pieces. This sonorous glory does have a price, however. The wonderful texts are quite frequently muddled a bit. The enunciation and diction are not as clear on this recording as one might have expected from this group. That is a small cavil, however--intonation and interpretation are flawless.

Buy this, put it in your CD player, turn it up, and enjoy it. If you love choral music, you need to own this disc.

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