''O magnum mysterium'' (O great mystery) is a

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to Margar ...

for choir

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

Morten Lauridsen Morten Johannes Lauridsen (born February 27, 1943) is an American composer. A National Medal of Arts recipient (2007), he was composer-in-residence of the Los Angeles Master Chorale from 1994 to 2001, and is the Distinguished Professor Emeritus of ...

. He set the text of "

O magnum mysterium O magnum mysterium is a responsorial chant from the Matins of Christmas. Text The text is drawn from the Matins of Christmas in the Roman Breviary. ; Latin text: : O magnum mysterium, : et admirabile sacramentum, : ut animalia viderent Do ...

", a

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed mainly in western and central Europe durin ...

for

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

, in 1994. The composition, performed and recorded often, made Lauridsen famous. It was described as expressive ethereal sounds in imperturbable calmness.

History

The American composer

is professor of composition at the USC Thornton School of Music. He wrote his setting of "

" in 1994, on a commission from the Los Angeles Master Chorale, by Marshall Rutter for his wife Terry Knowles. The composition was first performed at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

on 18 December 1994 by the Los Angeles Master Chorale, conducted by

Paul Salamunovich Paul Salamunovich KCSG (June 7, 1927April 3, 2014) was a Grammy-nominated, American conductor and educator. He was the Music Director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale from 1991 to 2001 and its Music Director Emeritus from 2001 until his death in ...

. It was published in 1995 by Southern Music Publishing. The popular setting was often performed and recorded and became one of Lauridsen's signature pieces. Sandra Dackow wrote an arrangement for

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

Text and music

The Latin text "O magnum mysterium" is a

from the fifth

responsory A responsory or respond is a type of chant in western Christian liturgies. Definition The most general definition of a responsory is any psalm, canticle, or other sacred musical work sung responsorially, that is, with a cantor or small group sin ...

of nine for

Vigil A vigil, from the Latin ''vigilia'' meaning ''wakefulness'' (Greek: ''pannychis'', or ''agrypnia'' ), is a period of purposeful sleeplessness, an occasion for devotional watching, or an observance. The Italian word ''vigilia'' has become genera ...

on Christmas Day. It reflects first oxen and donkey next to the manger as first mentioned in Isaiah 1:3. and traditionally related to the

nativity of Jesus The nativity of Jesus, nativity of Christ, birth of Jesus or birth of Christ is described in the biblical gospels of Gospel of Luke, Luke and Gospel of Matthew, Matthew. The two accounts agree that Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judaea (Roman ...

as a symbol for the mystery of the self-abasement of God in his

Incarnation Incarnation literally means ''embodied in flesh'' or ''taking on flesh''. It refers to the conception and the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form or the appearance of a god as a human. If capitalized, it is the union of divinit ...

. In a second theme, the text is based on the greeting of Elizabeth welcoming Mary when she visits. The text was set to music by composers over the centuries, including Palestrina,

Tomás Luis de Victoria Tomás Luis de Victoria (sometimes Italianised as ''da Vittoria''; ) was the most famous Spanish composer of the Renaissance. He stands with Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Orlande de Lassus as among the principal composers of the late Ren ...

and

Francis Poulenc Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among the best-kno ...

. Lauridsen set the text as a

for SATB choir. The composer said that he was inspired by a 1633 painting from the Norton Simon Museum, Zurbarán's ''

Still Life with Lemons, Oranges and a Rose ''Still Life with Lemons, Oranges and a Rose'' is an oil-on-canvas painting by Baroque Spanish people, Spanish artist Francisco de Zurbarán completed in 1633. It is currently displayed at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California as part of ...

'' (1633), which has been interpreted as symbolism for the Virgin Mary. He described his intentions: "I wanted this piece to resonate immediately and deeply into the core of the listener, to illumine through sound." Lauridsen remembered that he worked on the composition for six months, and put considerable thinking into a dissonant chord to comment on Mary's sorrow about her son to be killed. Lauridsen said further that the work is meant as "a quiet song of profound inner joy", with music expressing both the mystery of the Incarnation and Mary's tenderness for her child.

Recordings

The first performers recorded the work on a 2002 CD with other choral compositions by Lauridsen, entitled after one of them ''Lux aeterna''. A reviewer noted the freshness of the around 90 singers who appear regularly with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. He described the tonal music as influenced by

Arvo Pärt Arvo Pärt (; born 11 September 1935) is an Estonian composer of contemporary classical music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs tintinnabuli, a compositional technique he invented. Pärt's music is in pa ...

and John Rutter. Lauridsen founded a choir of 22 international singers to perform his music, the Nordic Chamber Choir, in 1997. He worked with them on a recording of four pieces, including the title piece "O magnum mysterium", conducted with Nicol Matt. A reviewer noted the "higher simplicity" (höhere Einfachheit) achieved by simple melodies, expressive ethereal sounds, and imperturbable calmness.

References

External links

* {{authority control Choral compositions 1994 compositions Marian hymns