O Magnum Mysterium

American composer Morten Lauridsen describes his choral anthem O Magnum Mysterium (1994) as “a quiet song of profound inner joy”—an attempt to capture both the simplicity and the “great mystery” of the incarnation. A text for Matins on Christmas Day describes the wonder of the animals as they see the infant Christ in the manger, and the tenderness of his mother Mary. The composer takes this idea—of the beauty and transcendence in the everyday—and translates it into music that unfolds in luminous waves of melody. Lauridsen has pointed listeners to Still Life with Lemons, Oranges, and a Rose by 17th-century artist Francisco de Zurbarán as his inspiration—something “uncomplicated and unadorned yet powerful and transformative.” The piece’s power is in its restraint. Written in glowing D major, there’s just a single accidental—a G sharp on the word “Virgo”—whose sudden stab of dissonance is a reminder of the pain to come, even at this joyful moment of birth.