In today’s Wall Street Journal “Sightings” column, I write about Shining Night: A Portrait of Composer Morten Lauridsen, a film documentary that will receive its first public screening next month. Here’s an excerpt.
* * *
It’s been a long time since an American classical composer became famous, much less popular. Philip Glass was probably the last one whose name would become passably well known to the public at large, and even Mr. Glass isn’t nearly as famous as, say, Aaron Copland. That says a lot about the marginal place of high culture in America–none of it good.
So who ought to be famous? Or, to put it another way, who’s writing classical music these days that’s accessible enough to satisfy lay listeners, yet serious enough to impress trained musicians?
Morten Lauridsen, that’s who.
Don’t be surprised if Mr. Lauridsen’s name is unfamiliar to you. If you sing in a choir or go out of your way to listen to new choral music, there’s a better-than-even chance that you’ll have heard of him. If not, not. Though Mr. Lauridsen’s music is more widely performed than that of any other contemporary choral composer, he doesn’t get talked about on TV or written about in magazines, and highbrow music critics typically ignore his premieres. Yet he has no shortage of ardent fans, one of whom, the poet Dana Gioia, describes him as “one of the few living composers whom I would call great.”
Mr. Gioia, the past chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, speaks these words of praise in a film documentary called “Shining Night: A Portrait of Composer Morten Lauridsen” that will receive its premiere on Feb. 7 in Palm Springs, Calif., followed by screenings in Cincinnati, New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, and other locations. The film, directed by Michael Stillwater, is a heartening rarity, a thoroughly intelligent classical-music program that strikes an appropriate balance between words and music. Most of the talking is done by Mr. Lauridsen himself and all of it is to the point, but plenty of time is devoted to the music that is the true point of “Shining Night,” and by film’s end you’ll know what it sounds like and whether you want to hear more of it–as I expect you will….
Says Mr. Lauridsen: “There are too many things out there that are away from goodness. We need to focus on those things that ennoble us, that enrich us.” The musical language in which he embodies this simple belief is conservative in the best and most creative sense of the word. His sacred music is unabashedly, even fearlessly tonal, and his chiming harmonies serve as underpinning for gently swaying melodic lines that leave no doubt of his love for medieval plainchant. Nothing about his music is “experimental”: It is direct, heartfelt and as sweetly austere as the luminous sound of church bells at night….
* * *
Read the whole thing here.
The trailer for Shining Night:
Stephen Cleobury and the King’s College Choir perform Morten Lauridsen’s “O magnum mysterium” in 2009:
Terry Teachout on the arts in New York City
