VocalEssence

VocalEssence
  • Who We Are
    • About VocalEssence
    • Performing Ensembles
    • Staff
    • Collaborators
    • Board of Directors
      • VocalEssence ¡Cantaré! Advisory Council
      • VocalEssence WITNESS Advisory Council
    • Bridging Societal Difference
  • What We Do
    • Why Sing?
    • Concerts and Events
    • Celebrating Black Excellence
    • Musical Moments with Philip Brunelle
    • Learning and Engagement Programs
    • Contests and Awards
    • Commissioning and Recording
    • Accessibility
  • Stories & Results
    • #vesotashareshope
    • COVID-19 Updates
    • GPS & Friends
    • Bridging Societal Difference
    • Musical Moments
    • Performing Ensembles
    • Schools & Education
    • Take 5 with GPS
    • Together We Sing
  • Get Involved
    • Donate
      • Bridge to the Future Campaign
    • Engage a Choir
    • Sing with Us
    • Join the Board
    • Volunteer
    • Work at VocalEssence
  • Login
  • On Demand
  • Buy Tickets
  • Donate
Search
More...

Morten Lauridsen | Musical Moments with Philip Brunelle

February 4, 2021

Share

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • email

In this Musical Moment, VocalEssence artistic director and founder Philip Brunelle shares insider information and beautiful music by the composer Morten Lauridsen.

Morten Lauridsen

Permission granted on Composer’s website

b. 1943

Morten Lauridsen is a National Medal of Arts recipient and the most frequently performed American choral composer in modern history. A native of the Pacific Northwest, Lauridsen worked as a Forest Service firefighter and lookout (on an isolated tower near Mt. St. Helens) and attended Whitman College before traveling south to study composition at the University of Southern California with Ingolf Dahl, Halsey Stevens, Robert Linn, and Harold Owen. He began teaching at the University of Southern California in 1967 and retired in 2020. His works have been recorded on more than 200 CDs, five of which have received Grammy Award nominations; Lauridsen, himself, is a recipient of numerous grants, prizes, and commissions. His eight vocal cycles, two collections, and his series of sacred a cappella motets have become the all-time best-selling choral octavos of several publishers. His musical approaches are very diverse, ranging from direct to abstract in response to various characteristics of the texts he sets. Lauridsen’s Latin sacred settings often reference Gregorian chant plus Medieval and Renaissance procedures while blending them within a freshly contemporary lyric sound. 

Suggested choral pieces:

  1. O Magnum Mysterium (Peermusic Classical PEER3295) 
  2. Sure on this Shining Night (Peermusic Classical PEER3602) 
  3. Les Chansons des Roses (Peermusic Classical PEER3839)

For more information about Lauridsen, visit his website: https://www.mortenlauridsen.net/

Posted in: Musical Moments
Tags: Composers of the Late 20th-21st Century • United States Composers

Recent Stories

  • NEA Statement April 7, 2025
  • VocalEssence Holiday Programming 2024 December 16, 2024
  • VocalEssence Welcomes New Board Members November 12, 2024
  • Black-Owned Business and Artist Showcase April 23, 2024
  • Healing Beats Sessions March 21, 2024

Musical Moments

  • #inspiration
  • 2020
  • Argentinan Composers
  • Australian Composers
  • Basque Composers
  • Black Composers
  • Bradley Greenwald
  • British Composers
  • Canadian Composers
  • choir
  • Clara Osowski
  • Composers from Minnesota
  • Composers of the 17th 18th and 19th Centuries
  • Composers of the Early-Mid 20th Century
  • Composers of the Late 20th-21st Century
  • composing
  • concerts
  • Czech Composers
  • Dan Dressen
  • Dutch Composers
  • Early-mid 20th Century
  • Eastern European Composers
  • French Composers
  • German and Austrian Composers
  • Hungarian Composers
  • Italian Composers
  • Late 20th-21st Century
  • Latin American Composers
  • Maria Jette
  • Mexican composers
  • planning
  • Portuguese Composers
  • repertoire
  • Russian Composers
  • Scandinavian Composers
  • Scottish Composers
  • South American Composers
  • Spanish Composers
  • Swiss Composers
  • United States Composers
  • Women Composers
  • About Us
    • About VocalEssence
    • Press Room
    • Annual Report
    • Financial Information
    • Staff
    • Board of Directors
    • VocalEssence COVID Protocols
  • Get Involved
    • Donate
    • Sing with Us
    • Volunteer
    • Work at VocalEssence
  • Connect
    • Email Sign Up
    • Contact Us/Location
    • Chorus Connection
    • VocalEssence Board Login
  • VocalEssence
  • 1900 Nicollet Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55403
  • Phone: 612-547-1451
  • Fax: 612-547-1484
  • info@vocalessence.org
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 VocalEssence. All rights reserved.

https://www.vocalessence.org/morten-lauridsen-musical-moments-with-philip-brunelle

This website uses cookies for necessary functions and to enhance your browsing experience.

Accept & Continue