"Northwest Journey" features world premiere recordings of art songs, choral works and chamber music.
? Northwest Journey features world premiere recordings of art songs, choral works and chamber music. It is a marvelous introduction to the many sides of Lauridsen as composer, arranger, instrumentalist and fan. There is Lauridsen the chorale composer (Madrigali), the composer for solo voice and piano (A Winter Come), the chamber music enthusiast (Cuatro Canciones), the composer in a "blues" mode (Canticle: In Memoriam, Halsey Stevens), and even as Broadway pop enthusiast with Sondheim echoes (Where Have All the Actors Gone?).
? Also high on the list of choir favorites is Lauridsen's Madrigali: Six Firesongs on Italian Renaissance Poems.
? Les Chansons des Roses is a collection of compositions based on the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke. This is one of his seven major vocal cycles that is not as familiar as the others, but is no less attractive...[it] includes one of the nation's current best-selling octavos, "Dirait-on." Says Lauridsen of his selection: "[Rilke's] poems on roses struck me as especially charming, filled with gorgeous lyricism, deftly crafted and elegant in their imagery. The exquisite poems are primarily light, joyous and playful, and the musical settings are designed to enhance these characteristics and capture their delicate beauty and sensuousness."
Listen to recordings in Real Audio.
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-- Back to the Main Story: "Inspired by Nature, Passionate about Poetry"
