Clearly, however, Lauridsen has worked for his style. He has from the beginning a knack for creating beautiful choral sound, although it takes a very good choir to realize the beauty of the writing. The earliest things on the CD, the two psalm settings (121 and 95) come from 1970. In their sonic cleanness and clarity, despite some sharp dissonance, and in their insistence on clear ideas, they remind me of Halsey Stevens, with whom Lauridsen studied. To a great extent, Lauridsen commits to choral music, as the Renaissance masters did. This is the heart of his catalogue, as the string quartet is to Bartók's, and no apologies. No need to write a symphony when you can write this. Psalm 95, with a virtuosic organ part, especially sounds to me far away from later Lauridsen. It does a quick dance, with lots of closely imitative counterpoint which intensifies its rhythmic energy. Psalm 121, as befits its text, meditates more, with gorgeous chords built from fourths and fifths, rather than from the usual thirds and sixths (think of something like Hindemith). I find both psalm settings heart-stoppingly beautiful. The Ave, dulcissima Maria (2005) for men's choir and tuned finger cymbals keeps that quality thirty-five years later. It's difficult as the devil, since the a cappella men's choir must keep pitch with the finger cymbals, and that checks in only every once in a while.
Stephen Layton and Polyphony, a thoroughly professional group though not normally one of my favorites, turns in an inspired performance of everything. Indeed, either my memory is bad or they've transcended themselves. The ensemble is clearer, the diction sharper, the attacks less spongy, and the intonation breathtaking. The huge pits that Lauridsen digs for choirs to fall into at the start of the final Chansons des roses song and throughout the Ave, dulcissima Maria they handle mostly without a bump. Think of the added pressure with the composer present at the piano and on the finger cymbals. I think this the best CD they've issued, and Hyperion's sound is just about perfect.
Ave Dulcissima Maria Lauridsen Pdf
MORTEN LAURIDSEN - Mid-Winter Songs (1983); Les chansons des roses (1993); I will lift up mine eyes (1970); O come, let us sing unto the Lord (1970); Ave, dulcissima Maria (2005); Nocturnes (2005) 2ff7e9595c
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