5/22/20

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Morten Lauridsen (1943- )

Today’s selection is a piece which I was exposed to in a course about choral composition (which has been mentioned in some of my previous posts), and upon hearing for the first time I immediately fell in love with the harmonic language and style of the piece. Personally, I find that I must listen to a piece a couple of times to fully appreciate it, and so it is always refreshingly fantastic to come across a piece like this which can immediately draw a listener in and keep their interest. O Magnum Mysterium, written in 1994 by American composer Morten Lauridsen, is based off a Gregorian (responsorial) chant of the same name. While Lauridsen’s setting of the the text reflects a very refined style of contemporary choral writing, the piece still (in same ways) draws inspiration from classic Gregorian chants. The piece quickly gained popularity among choral groups all over the world, with a recording done by the Tiffany Consort even receiving a nomination for a Grammy Award. Morten Lauridsen currently teaches composition at the esteemed Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California, a position which he has held for more than 40 years.

When looking at the piece, the harmonic content can seem deceptively straightforward. The piece is entirely tonal, and sits comfortably between D major and the relative B minor. Beyond that, most of the harmonic progressions follow common practice and come across as comfortable and familiar to the listener. So what’s the big deal about the harmony then? The brilliance of O Magnum Mysterium lies in Morten Lauridsen’s careful use of dissonances within the harmonies. While the melodic line is usually given to the soprano part, pay close attention to the movement in the other three parts: by moving individually in comfortable ways, Lauridsen is able to weave a delicate tapestry of passing dissonances. It is also important to consider the medium of the piece here, as a similar texture may not be nearly as impressive if scored for orchestra or solo piano. Dissonances in choral music always have to be handled with the utmost care, seeing as the performers must be able to hear how their own part fits into the larger whole. While orchestral musicians (and musicians within all other types of ensembles) must do this too, a concrete frame of reference (like the limited pitches an instrument can produce) allows for the performer to execute far more complex and foreign dissonances. In a sense, this extremely nuanced use of dissonance within a choral texture is just as much “writing for the instrument” as some of previous posts, such as Mark Applebaum’s Catfish or Maurice Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit.

When this piece came up as an example of contemporary choral music in my course, my professor, Carl Smith, made an interesting comment which I’d like to comment on here. The remark, which will be paraphrased to some extent here, compared the beautiful still quality of the piece to Morten Lauridsen’s home of the Pacific Northwest. Carl Smith said something along the lines of “you can almost hear the serene fogginess of his home of Washington state in the music,” and I distinctly remember that connection sending me home with plenty of ideas on my mind. Perhaps I give Professor Smith too much credit, but it fascinated me to consider how a composer’s own surroundings could inspire and manifest itself in their music. First of all, I must first point out just how apt it is to describe O Magnum Mysterium as foggy or veiled, seeing how the music moves slowly and gracefully to reveal simple yet beautiful melodies and harmonies. So with that, is it so far a stretch to connect that to the weather of the Pacific Northwest? Perhaps even if it were not a conscious effort, is it possible that his style of choral music evolved out of inspiration from his surrounding subconsciously? It may take speaking to Lauridsen himself to get a definitive answer, but we can certainly revel in speculation.

Whether or not the atmospheric quality of O Magnum Mysterium immediately speaks to you, I urge you to consider how simplicity meets complexity in the piece. Subtle buried dissonances may not be everyone’s preferred aesthetic, but it certainly has its merit in the field of unaccompanied choral music. Below I have linked a video with the score so that you can hopefully catch Morten Lauridsen’s ingenious uses of dissonance. I would also like to challenge you to really consider how visual the piece is - if your mind does not go to the Pacific Northwest, where does it seem to be taken? Like many great pieces of music, there seems to some “painted” quality to O Magnum Mysterium which makes it seem so vivid. Additionally, if you are able to think of a more fitting scene to compare the piece to, consider describing it or referencing it in a comment below.