Light Eternal – The Choral Music of Morten Lauridsen

The choral music of American composer Morten Lauridsen has touched the hearts of millions all over the world and earned him a reputation as a musical mystic. Hailing from the Pacific Northwest, he worked first as a Forest Service firefighter as a young man, often spending weeks alone in his isolated tower, watching out for forest fires. This time of peace and self-reflection helped forge a musical language that is not only central to his life but to the lives of countless others, be they singers or listeners. For 52 years, he taught at his alma mater, the University of Southern California, before retiring in 2019. His music has become a modern staple of choirs and appears on more than 200 recordings. Light Eternal, performed with poise and gentle fervor by the Chamber Choir of Europe and I Virtuosi Italiani under German conductor Nicol Matt, conveys the expansiveness of Lauridsen’s distinctive language, above all in Lux aeterna—a requiem in all but name—and one of his most popular pieces, “O magnum mysterium.”