Birthday Tribute to Morten Lauridsen

This morning I learned through my Inbox that today is the 80th birthday of choral composer Morten Lauridsen. As a recipient on the National Medal of Arts, Lauridsen definitely deserves the epithet of being one of the greatest living choral composers. Indeed, I am aware of his name (with a limited awareness of his works) through three of the San Francisco choral ensembles I have tried to cover, at least part. Sadly, my efforts have been few and far between. The most recent was a program that the Lacuna Arts Ensemble presented in May of 2017. The other two were organized by Sanford Dole, his eight-voice Apse Ensemble and his larger Bay Choral Guild.

Ironically, Lauridsen’s closest association in San Francisco is with Volti. This is particularly evident in the documentary film by Michael Stillwater entitled Shining Night: A Portrait of Composer Morten Lauridsen. Much of the latter portion of this film provides an extended account of Lauridsen working with Volti and its Artistic Director Robert Geary. Indeed, the film includes a rehearsal session with Geary conducting both Volti and Lauridsen at the piano:

screen shot from the streamed presentation of the Shining Night documentary

To honor Lauridsen’s birthday, Shining Night is available for free screening through Wednesday, March 1. Vimeo.com has provided the Web page on which the documentary may be viewed. The closing credits begin to roll about one hour after the beginning of the film.

Much of the footage of Lauridsen’s personal life shows him where he lives on Waldron Island, off the coast of the state of Washington. (Early in the film Lauridsen has the camera point north to allow the viewer to see Canada!) Performances of his music are captured on film not only in San Francisco but also in Los Angeles and Aberdeen (in Scotland). Those segments account of some of his better known works, including “Lux Aeterna” and “O Magnum Mysterium” in the sacred genre and the Madrigali collection on the secular side. Nevertheless, this is not a “concert” film; so all of the music is excerpted.

It is also worth noting that the primary voice in the film is Lauridsen’s own. Others may speak of their esteem for him. However, he is not shy about sharing is personal thoughts, particularly when they involve how many of the works in his catalog were created.

The result is a well-crafted and informative account of the making of music, while consistently allowing the music maker the last and authoritative word.