Hyperion CDA67580 · January 2007
Lauridsen - Nocturnes & other choral works
Polyphony, Stephen Layton (conductor)
- STEREOFILE USA EDITOR'S PICK OF THE MONTH
- CLASSIC FM MAGAZINE OPERA AND VOCAL DISC OF THE MONTH
Press
Audiophile Audition2007...a disc that is filled with lovely music. Performances are excellent. Anyone who is interested in the best of choral music of our time will treasure this discRead the review 
Choir and Organ2007Lauridsen's Mid-Winter Hymns unfolds as an astutely constructed choral symphony, with bouncy asymmetrical rhythms and lusty choral writing leading to a meditative fadeout. Les chanson des roses is a polyphonic delight that…Read the review 
Classic FM Magazine2007This second, secular anthology is, if anything finer than its predecessor, elevated by the heavenly work of all concerned with its making, and the compelling eloquence of Lauridsen's sublime music....Polyphony’s love for words…Read the review 
Classical Source.com2007… It is no surprise to learn of the composer’s devotion to music of both the Medieval and Renaissance periods; his command of the (at times) very complicated polyphonic textures is second-to-none as is the creation of the…Read the review 
Classical.net2007Morten Lauridsen (b. 1943) is at present considered to be the brightest star in the American choral firmament and rightly so. He is a perfectionist who commands an outstanding technique, and is able to create elegantly-finished…Read the review 
Classics Today.com2007This is great stuff, and it's given its best imaginable realization by Stephen Layton and his crack vocal ensemble Polyphony... The sound, recorded in two different London churches in 2006, has a pleasing resonance that…Read the review 
CNN News2007You know something's up when two of the highest-profile and most honored American composers of serious choral music keep getting onto planes and heading to England to have their work recordedRead the review 
Fanfare USA2007Stephen Layton's splendiferous disc - the second of Lauridsen's music by these performers - should be on the shelf of each and every choral-music aficionadoRead the review 
HMV Choice2007This recording is a fine example of Polyphony's exquisite range and Stephen Layton's skill in maintaining the balance between voices and ensembleRead the review 
International Record Review2007This is a spectacular cycle, graced by some sensational singingRead the review 
Music Web International2007This is a superb issue, with the engineers capturing the full sonority of the choir, orchestra and soloists to perfection and with diction being as clear as crystal throughoutRead the review 
Slate Magazine USA2007Nocturnes creates a complex and strange beauty that doesn't sound like any other composer. Yet for all its musical intricacy, the work has a direct and powerful emotional impact-not the impact of a scream, but of an intimate…Read the review 
Stereophile USA2007I hold these truths to be self-evident: 1) Rainer Maria Rilke was a genius. 2) Morten Lauridsen is a genius. 3) Lauridsen’s a cappella setting of Rilke’s Contre Qui, Rose is one of the most singularly beautiful pieces of vocal…Read the review 
The Daily Express2007This is celestial and spine-tingling stuff. Contemporary choral music really doesn't come any better than thisRead the review 
The Daily Telegraph2007It is two years since Hyperion introduced the music of Morten Lauridsen to a wider audience and earned a Grammy nomination for its trouble. That first volume of the West Coast American composer's religious work is complemented…Read the review 
The Manchester Evening News2007There could be few choirs better equipped than Polyphony to bring his music to life, with their pure sound and lively musicianship … the recent Ave Dulcissima Maria is for a capella male chorus and searingly beautiful. The final…Read the review 
The Seattle Times2007The Northwest-born composer Morten Lauridsen, renowned for his choral music, is the subject of this sumptuous CD by the English vocal ensemble Polyphony, under the direction of Stephen Layton. Their glorious sound and subtle…Read the review - Music Web International2005In April 2002 I wrote the following about a Rubeda Canis Musica Release RCM 19705: "This disc is my choral disc of the year! I cannot see how it could be bettered, both musically, performance and recording-wise. Although it is…Read the review
Recorded: Various dates
Produced by Adrian Peacock
Engineered by Simon Eadon
Release date: January 2007
Total duration: 64 minutes 30 seconds
Track list
- Mid-Winter Songs: Lament for Pasiphaë Dying sun, shine warm a little longer!Morten Lauridsen (b1943)5'15
- Mid-Winter Songs: Like Snow She, then, like snow in a dark nightMorten Lauridsen (b1943)1'28
- Mid-Winter Songs: She tells her love while half asleepMorten Lauridsen (b1943)4'19
- Mid-Winter Songs: Mid-Winter Waking Stirring suddenly from long hibernationMorten Lauridsen (b1943)1'36
- Mid-Winter Songs: Intercession in Late October How hard the year dies: no frost yetMorten Lauridsen (b1943)6'23
- Les chansons des roses: En une seule fleur C'est pourtant nous qui t'avons proposéMorten Lauridsen (b1943)2'20
- Les chansons des roses: Contre qui, roseMorten Lauridsen (b1943)3'18
- Les chansons des roses: De ton rêve trop pleinMorten Lauridsen (b1943)2'14
- Les chansons des roses: La rose complète J'ai une telle conscience de tonMorten Lauridsen (b1943)4'43
- Les chansons des roses: Dirait-on Abandon entouré d'abandonMorten Lauridsen (b1943)4'35
- I will lift up mine eyesMorten Lauridsen (b1943)3'14
- O come, let us sing unto the LordMorten Lauridsen (b1943)3'22
- Ave, dulcissima MariaMorten Lauridsen (b1943)7'04
- Nocturnes: Sa nuit d'été Si je pourrais avec mes mains brûlantesMorten Lauridsen (b1943)3'31
- Nocturnes: Soneto de la noche Cuando yo muera quiero tus manos en mis ojosMorten Lauridsen (b1943)5'56
- Nocturnes: Sure on this shining nightMorten Lauridsen (b1943)5'12
Recording details from Hyperion Records.