Lauridsen: O magnum mysterium, Lux aeterna, Ubi caritas & Other Choral Works

Featuring

Stephen Layton
Britten Sinfonia
Polyphony
Morten Lauridsen

Did you know?

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Compositional Technique

In his choral cycle Madrigali, Lauridsen uses a 'fire-chord' (a B flat minor triad with an added C) to unify the score and symbolize its fevered mood, inspired by Renaissance madrigalists like Monteverdi and Gesualdo.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Lauridsen's Lux aeterna is an 'intimate work of quiet serenity' that expresses 'hope, reassurance, faith and illumination in all of its manifestations,' though it is not a liturgical work.

Recording & Production

This album was recorded in two different London locations: The Temple Church in July and August 2003, and St Jude-on-the-Hill, Hampstead Garden Suburb, in April 2004 for the Lux aeterna tracks.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Lauridsen's compositional style is deeply influenced by plainchant and Renaissance music, which he assimilates into a personal idiom shaped by his love of lyricism from classical art song and American musical theatre.

Composition History

The composition of Lauridsen's Lux aeterna gained added impetus and poignancy when his mother died as he began to notate his initial ideas for the score, an uncanny parallel with Brahms and Fauré.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Morten Lauridsen, the composer, prioritizes creating beautiful melodic lines, stating he constantly sings each line while composing to ensure it is lyrical and gracious for the singer.