Dirait-on by Morten Lauridsen
Warm greetings on a coldish morning (I just turned the heat on),
Some of you know that I am just not a Morten Lauridsen type of guy. He took the choral world by storm back in the 90's, and many of my colleagues were programming his work enthusiastically. It was probably in part the fact that by that time I was so focused upon early music. But there's also an element of his work that generally doesn't quite agree with me. (I will however say that he is a master at selecting poetry to set, and for that I definitely admire him.)
That being said, there are a few Lauridsen pieces which really grab me, and today's Monday Madrigal (actually a chanson) is one of these. It's the fourth piece in his choral cycle 'Les chansons des roses' (1993). The five poems are drawn from Rilke's 'Les Roses' (1926), a collection of 27 lyrical poems.
The most famous chanson from Lauridsen's cycle is its final piece, 'Dirait-on', a setting with piano accompaniment of the fifth poem in Rilke's collection. But my personal favorite is 'La rose complète', Lauridsen's fourth piece and Rilke's eleventh. It's partly because of the poem, which I find so touching, translated here by Barbara and Erica Muhl:
I have such awareness of your
being, perfect rose,
that my will unites you
with my heart in celebration.
I breathe you in, rose, as if you were
all if life,
and I feel the perfect friend
of a perfect friend.
Now, how to describe Lauridsen's setting? It's largely homophonic, with some use of independent counterpoint at special moments. Soloistic lines occur with choral accompaniment on sustained words from the poem. A careful elaboration of an AABA structure, the architecture of the piece is truly masterful, especially the intensification in the B section. And the textures and dynamics are perfectly designed to tug at the heart-strings: And so they do.
But if I had to focus on one thing, it would be the harmonic world created within the piece. There are plenty of triads here and there, but the predominant language is of seventh chords (often inverted), of added ninths, of sus chords, of a richness and a color and (dare one say?) an efflorescence absolutely perfect for the poem and its feeling and flavor.
I'm attaching a score, a very good recording and a text-translation sheet.
Settle back with a nice cup of cocoa (peppermint schnapps is optional) and enjoy!
Warm greetings on a coldish morning (I just turned the heat on),
Some of you know that I am just not a Morten Lauridsen type of guy. He took the choral world by storm back in the 90's, and many of my colleagues were programming his work enthusiastically. It was probably in part the fact that by that time I was so focused upon early music. But there's also an element of his work that generally doesn't quite agree with me. (I will however say that he is a master at selecting poetry to set, and for that I definitely admire him.)
That being said, there are a few Lauridsen pieces which really grab me, and today's Monday Madrigal (actually a chanson) is one of these. It's the fourth piece in his choral cycle 'Les chansons des roses' (1993). The five poems are drawn from Rilke's 'Les Roses' (1926), a collection of 27 lyrical poems.
The most famous chanson from Lauridsen's cycle is its final piece, 'Dirait-on', a setting with piano accompaniment of the fifth poem in Rilke's collection. But my personal favorite is 'La rose complète', Lauridsen's fourth piece and Rilke's eleventh. It's partly because of the poem, which I find so touching, translated here by Barbara and Erica Muhl:
I have such awareness of your
being, perfect rose,
that my will unites you
with my heart in celebration.
I breathe you in, rose, as if you were
all if life,
and I feel the perfect friend
of a perfect friend.
Now, how to describe Lauridsen's setting? It's largely homophonic, with some use of independent counterpoint at special moments. Soloistic lines occur with choral accompaniment on sustained words from the poem. A careful elaboration of an AABA structure, the architecture of the piece is truly masterful, especially the intensification in the B section. And the textures and dynamics are perfectly designed to tug at the heart-strings: And so they do.
But if I had to focus on one thing, it would be the harmonic world created within the piece. There are plenty of triads here and there, but the predominant language is of seventh chords (often inverted), of added ninths, of sus chords, of a richness and a color and (dare one say?) an efflorescence absolutely perfect for the poem and its feeling and flavor.
I'm attaching a score, a very good recording and a text-translation sheet.
Settle back with a nice cup of cocoa (peppermint schnapps is optional) and enjoy!