Lauridsen: Madrigali, V (Luce Serene E Chiare)

Luci Serene e Chiare

Luci serene e chiare, Voi m’incendete, voi; ma prov’il core Nell’ incendio diletto, non dolore.

Dolci parole e care, Voi mi ferite, voi; ma prov’ il petto Non dolor ne la piaga, ma diletto.

O miracol d’amore!

Alma ch’è tutta foco e tutta sangue, Si strugge e non si duol, mor’e non langue.

— Ridolfo Arlotti

Eyes serene and clear, You inflame me, but my heart must Find pleasure, not sorrow, in the fire.

Words sweet and dear, You wound me, but my breast must Find pleasure, not sorrow, in the wound.

O miracle of love!

The soul that is all fire and blood, Melts yet feels no sorrow, dies yet does not languish.

— Translation by Erica Muhl

The Madrigali: Six “Fire-Songs” on Renaissance Italian Poems have been featured at major choral festivals throughout the world, including the American Music Festival at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Swedish Choral Festival in Stockholm and numerous American Choral Directors Association conventions. Hailed by the Los Angeles Times as “stunningly crafted,” the Madrigali are unified textually by romantic references to fire in each of the poems. Characteristic Italian Renaissance “madrigalisms” such as word painting, modality, bold harmonic shifts, intricate counterpoint and augenmusik occur throughout the cycle.

Morten Lauridsen writes: “The choral masterpieces of the High Renaissance, especially the sacred works of Josquin and Palestrina and the secular madrigals of Monteverdi and Gesualdo, provided the inspiration for my own Madrigali. Italian love poems of that era have constituted a rich lyric source for many composers, and while reading them I became increasingly intrigued by the symbolic imagery of flames, burning, and fire that recurred. I decided to compose an intensely dramatic a cappella cycle based on Renaissance poems employing this motif while blending stylistic musical features of the period within a contemporary compositional idiom. In doing so, I wanted the music to emanate (like ripples from a pebble thrown into a pond) from a single, primal sonority — one dramatic chord that would encapsule the intensity of the entire cycle and which would provide a musical motivic unity to complement the poetic. This sonority, which I’ve termed the ‘Fire-Chord,’ opens the piece and is found extensively throughout all six movements in myriad forms and manipulations. The Madrigali are designed in an arch form with significant sharing of materials between movements one and six, two and five. The cycle has its dramatic high point in movement four, ‘Io Piango,’ where the music gradually builds from pianissimo to a fortissimo, seven-part explosion of the ‘FireChord’ before settling to a quiet return of the opening measures.”

Mr. Lauridsen is Distinguished Professor of Composition at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music. He was Composer-In-Residence of the Los Angeles Master Chorale from 1995-2001 and was designated an “American Choral Master” by the National Endowment for the Arts in 2006. He received the 2007 National Medal of Arts “for his composition of radiant choral works combining musical beauty, power, and spiritual depth that have thrilled audiences worldwide.”

The Vocal Music of

Morten Lauridsen

Agnus Dei (from Lux Aeterna) ...................................................... SATB Chorus and Organ Ave Maria ....................................................................................... SATB Chorus a cappella Ave Dulcissima Maria ....................................................................... TTBB Chorus a cappella Be Still, My Soul, Be Still (Housman)..................... . High Voice, Clarinet, Cello and Piano Canticle/O Vos Omnes (antiphon) ......................................... Women’s Voices and Clarinet Les Chansons des Roses (Rilke) ........................................................ SATB Chorus and Piano Chanson Éloignée (Rilke) ................................................................. SATB Chorus a cappella Cuatro Canciones (Lorca) ........................................ High Voice, Clarinet, Cello and Piano Dirait-on (Rilke) ............................................................................. SATB Chorus and Piano ...............................................................TTBB or SSAA Chorus and Piano ............................................................. High or Medium Voice and Piano ................................... Mixed Duet (High or Medium Voices) and Piano ................................................................................ High Voice and Guitar I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes ................................................................. SATB Chorus a cappella Lux Aeterna ............................................................ SATB Chorus and Chamber Orchestra (orchestral parts available on rental)

Madrigali: Six “Firesongs” on Italian Renaissance Poems ............ SATB Chorus a cappella Mid-Winter Songs on Poems by Robert Graves ...................... SATB Chorus and Orchestra (Piano/Vocal Score Available from Opus Music Publishers, Inc.)

Nocturnes (Rilke, Neruda, Agee) .................................................... SATB Chorus and Piano O Come, Let Us Sing Unto the Lord .... SATB Chorus and Organ, Brass Quintet or Piano O Magnum Mysterium .................................................................. SATB Chorus a cappella .................................................................... TTBB Chorus a cappella .................................................Medium Voice and Piano or Organ O Nata Lux ..................................................................................... SATB Chorus a cappella Sure On This Shining Night (Agee) ................................................. TTBB Chorus and Piano ..................... Mixed Duet (Medium Voices) and Piano Ubi Caritas et Amor ......................................................................... SATB Chorus a cappella Where Have the Actors Gone .......................................................................... Voice and Piano ........................................................... SATB Chorus and Piano ................................................................ Jazz Choir a cappella A Winter Come (Moss) ................................................................. Medium Voice and Piano All - Morten Lauridsen Recordings “Lauridsen: Lux Aeterna,” Los Angeles Master Chorale, Sinfonia Orchestra and Morten Lauridsen (piano), Paul Salamunovich conducting, on the Grammy-nominated RCM CD 19705 “Lauridsen: Nocturnes,” Polyphony, Britten Sinfonia, Andrew Lumsden (organ) and Morten Lauridsen (piano), Stephen Layton conducting, on Hyperion CD 67580 “Lauridsen: Lux Aeterna,” Polyphony, Britten Sinfonia, Stephen Layton conducting, on the Grammy-nominated Hyperion CD 67449 “Lauridsen: O Magnum Mysterium,” Chamber Choir of Europe, Jörg Halubek (organ) and Morten Lauridsen (piano), Nicol Matt conducting, on Hänssler Classic CD 98272 “Lauridsen: Northwest Journey,” Donald Brinegar Singers and the Viklarbo Chamber Ensemble with Ralph Grierson, Jane Thorngren, Sunny Wilkinson, Shelly Berg, James Drollinger, Anne Marie Ketchum and Morten Lauridsen on RCM 12001 “Sure On This Shining Night – Voce Sings Lauridsen,” Voce Chamber Artists and Morten Lauridsen (piano), Mark Singleton conducting.

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