Lauridsen: Northwest Journey

Morten Lauridsen (Artist)

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 17, 2000)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rubedo Canis Musica
• ASIN: B00004YNF7
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #46,389 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  #6 in	Music > Classical > Featured Composers, A-Z > ( L ) > Lauridsen, Morten
  #27 in	Music > Opera & Vocal > Vocal Non-Opera > Songs & Lieder > Madrigals

Editorial Reviews

Seattle Times, November 2, 2000
"...recent output of Morten Lauridsen is collected on this remarkably fine...disc. "Northwest Journey" shows the breadth of which Lauridsen is capable..."

From the Label
With its Grammy nomination in 1998, Lauridsen Lux Aeterna(RCM19705) thrust Morten Lauridsen firmly into the international limelight. The collection of music presented on this disc shows many of the same as well as many different facets of this marvelously inventive and complex composer – from the jazz- inspired song that opens it to the powerful hymn that concludes it. Along the way, there are moments of profound introspection and unbridled joy, of repose and melancholy, of spiritual fulfillment and worldly bliss. Where Have the Actors Gone leaps from the stage of a musical theater with an allegorical telling of a relationship's end. From Lauridsen's beloved choral set, The Songs of the Roses, comes the composer's new arrangement of Dirait-on, cleverly woven for vocal duet. The unaccompanied motet, Ubi Caritas et Amor, written in honor of the late champion of choral music at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, Richard H. Trame, S.J., casts the ancient chant in an artful tapestry of melodic threads and signature colors.

The composer's keen eye for poetry of uncommon beauty and strength surfaces in an early song cycle for soprano and piano, A Winter Come, where the exquisite imagery of Howard Moss's verse is deftly captured in music as varied in character as Puck (in A Midsummer Night's Dream) and Hamlet. The closing mood dovetails nicely into the strict theme of the Variations for solo piano – an impressive model of the free-variation style, and a tour de force for the pianist.

Highly attuned to the music of our time, Lauridsen often connects with the wisdom of the past. His Madrigali delight as much for their bold harmonies and rhythmic asymmetries of today, as for their veiled and multi-layered echoes of the past, which resound with references to the Italian madrigalists of the turn of the 17th century – Monteverdi, Marenzio and Gesualdo. The cycle's thematic unity issues from the opening Fire Chord that inflames and glows throughout.

The fiercely unique tone of Garcia Lorca's poetry likewise penetrates the musical setting of the Cuatro Canciones – each song based on a wider interval than the previous, beginning with a taut minor second and ending with the serenity of the open fifth, like a flower opening to reveal its fullest beauty. Lauridsen's Christmas hymn, O Magnum Mysterium(O Great Mystery), is also heard in its first recording for solo voice, with the power of the original choral version carefully preserved in this arrangement by the composer.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars one word: WONDERFUL!, February 6, 2002

By	Eric McCalla "reviewboy" (Denver, COLORADO) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was given a copy of NORTHWEST JOURNEY for Christmas. Probably the best gift of music I've received ever.

The opening song, Where Have All the Actors Gone, with Sunny Wilkinson singing and Shelley Berg on piano, is I think one of Lauridsen's finest. Ms. Wilkinson's voice is warm and expressive, fitting the song's lyrics and mood perfectly. The piano playing is also marvelous.

On Dirait-On which can also be heard in its choral version on the Lauridsen album, LUX AETERNA, is to my ear more beautiful as a duet. While the choral version is lovely, it's hard to match Jane Thorngren and James Drollinger's performances.

The song cycle A Winter Come is finely sung also. My favorite of the Madrigali is track #16: the chorus is well-blended and their singing is uplifting as well as solemn.

To finish the album, Jane Thorngren leaves us with the MOST INSPIRING rendition of O MAGNUM MYSTERIUM I have and will have ever heard. I leave this track on repeat several times in the car driving home from work, and every moment is a joy.

This album has been playing daily in my car. I cannot say enough to recommend it.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspired and Insightful Work!, November 15, 2002

By	Robin Currier - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a very interesting CD! Using a small group or soloists to perform works that are usually done with large choral groups gives an entirely different sound and feel to this music. I'm very familiar with O Magnum Mysterium, one of the great modern choral works, having sung it myself or heard it performed many times. But sung with a single soprano soloist, it has an intimate, emotional appeal that I've never experienced before! A small group performing Ubi Caritas also gives an astounding clarity to the work that is quite different! I would definitely recommend this CD to any classical music lover.

Morten Lauridsen is a treasure!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Today's choral music master showcased, November 16, 2000

By	"vamusicbuff" (Arlington, VA United States) - See all my reviews

A nice soothing disc of concordant sounds!

This disc has alternate versions of "Dirait-on" (So They Say) and "O Magnum Mysterium" which are done by the composer. The first is done as a duet, and works nicely for soprano and baritone with piano. The second is done as a soprano also, and while it captures the soaring melodic line, we lose something of the choral body of the piece. The opening cut, "Where Have All the Actor's Gone?" is a hoot. It's more of a number from the Broadway stage, than from a classical composer. No doubt, this composer will not starve. "Ubi caritas" is a nice work--I would love to sing it with my choir. The Madrigals and the Winter song cycle also showed promise, kind of Ned Rorem in style. I was less impressed than the first disc on RCM, but Morten Lauridsen writes in a simple (but not simplistic) melodic style that shines with beauty, vitality, and depth.