Lux Aeterna
Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Münchner Rundfunkorchester, Joseph R. Olefirowicz
- Label
- ECM New Series
- Catalogue number
- ECM 1695
- EAN / barcode
- 028946534120
- Release date
- 30 July 2026
Illumination and Solace
This production is dedicated to works by two American composers, of whom Morten Lauridsen is certainly the best known in Germany. In particular, his choral work "O magnum mysterium" (1994) has become a "hit" in contemporary choral literature in recent years.
Lauridsen (*1943) first studied English and history, later music, and eventually became a professor of composition himself. As a creator of primarily vocal music, he received many honors, including the National Medal of Arts in 2007. All five parts of the Lux Eterna cycle refer to the "Eternal Light". When Lauridsen set the liturgical texts to music, his mother was dying, but the words about light as a symbol of all-encompassing illumination gave him solace.
Jake Runestad is one of the new additions to the list of great American composers and is establishing his place in American music history. He was born in 1986 in Rockford (Illinois) and grew up in a family that sang a lot. From 2009 to 2011, he studied at the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, after which he quickly gained recognition, especially in the field of choral music. His oeuvre, however, also includes operas, orchestral works, and chamber music. He received commissions from, among others, the Washington National Opera, the vocal ensemble VOCES8, and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. His debut album "The Hope of Loving" (jpc 9368195) was immediately nominated for a Grammy Award. Runestad sees nature as a major source of inspiration. In his "Earth Symphony," Mother Earth herself speaks; the five interconnected movements thematize her destruction, her sorrow, her healing, and also her hope for humanity.
Tracklist
- 01 Lux Aeterna 03:00
- 02 Oratio Ultima 03:08
- 03 Sacrum Potentia 03:23
- 04 Obscura Lux 02:03
- 05 In Nomine Patris 03:40
- 06 Tenebrae Magnus 04:59
- 07 Ecce Venit 05:03
- 08 Fides quae Non Tremit 08:00
- 09 Lux in Tenebris 03:15
- 10 Vigil of the King 03:40
Source: MusicBrainz
