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MOS Composer of the Month: Previous Page, Next Page, Index |
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Composer of the Month - February, 2005
Born in Colfax, Washington and reared in Portland, Oregon by his Swedish immigrant parents, Morten Lauridsen began learning music from his mother at a young age. His piano
studies started at age eight and trumpet a few years later. After his freshman year at Whitman College, he spent a summer as a forest service lookout, and in the weeks of solitude that he experienced in that
summer, he decided to study music formally. After another year at Whitman, he transferred to and has spent his career at the University of Southern California. His love of
poetry naturally influenced him in the direction of choral music. He majored in it, became a professor of it, and in 1990 achieved the post of Chair of the Department of
Composition at the university's Thornton School of Music. Since 1994 he has been Composer-in-Residence with the Los Angeles Master Chorale. Lauridsen's music exhibits a sense of serenity and mysticism unusual in modern composition. It may sound trivial to say so, but one key to his genius is that he starts with the text. Much of his music originates from the poets of the Italian Renaissance and the Latin liturgy. Added to this is the fact that one of his favorite composing venues is his rustic summer home on a remote island off the coast of Washington State, using an old "fifty dollar piano" (to use his own description), combining to produce the recipe for the unique style found in his music. Besides the beauty of his environment, his music derives from the solid religious faith learned in his youth. One indicator of Lauridsen's significance in the world of modern choral music is the demand for his music. O Magnum Mysterium is the all-time best-selling choral octavo distributed by the Theodore Presser Company, America's oldest music publisher. It has also been included in about fifty published recordings. Lauridsen has found his way into the MOS repertoire recently, with O Nata Lux (central movement of his cycle Lux Aeterna) on the Christmas 2004 program, O Magnum Mysterium on the 2004 MOCS program and two pieces from his popular Les Chanson des Roses will also be on the 2005 MOCS program: La Rose Complete and Dirait-on. For further reading on Morten Lauridsen: Click here for more information about the MOS Composer of the Month feature. |
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