Morten Lauridsen’s O Magnum Mysterium

We were exhausted.

But did we get a break? Or a nap? Of course not. We had come to sing.

This particular concert came during our second week of jet-lag as my college choir and I toured eastern Europe. We sang in a Roman Catholic cathedral in Moscow. I do not now remember our entire program, but I will never forget the magic we felt that night singing Morten Lauridsen’s O Magnum Mysterium. 

Listen to the recording (not my college choir) and follow the score below:

Though his choral work sounds somewhat medieval (Latin text, a cappella) Lauridsen is actually a contemporary composer living and teaching at the University of Southern California (at time of writing). You can read more about Lauridsen and his music on his website by clicking here or visiting the Links page of this blog.

O Magnum Mysterium reflects on the incarnation of Christ the Lord, celebrated at Christmas. The text (in English) reads: “O great mystery and wonderful sacrament, that animals should see the new-born Lord lying in a manager. Blessed is the Virgin whose womb was worthy to bear Christ the Lord. Allelujah!”[1]

Lauridsen’s setting of the text takes on a four part structure with sections A, A-prime (1:46) B (3:13), and A-double prime (4:05-end).

Besides the text, the piece features a few distinctive elements including close harmonies, suspensions and their resolutions, and polyphony. (To learn about polyphony, homophony, et al, click here). 

Close harmonies, specifically seconds, appear all over the place, even in first measure of the tenors (T). Particular chord voicings also create Lauridsen’s unique sound in this piece.

Listen again to “Beata Virgo” (beginning around 3:13) for a stellar example of tension, created by dissonance, resolving to consonance. In “Virgo” Lauridsen moves from the chord G(add 2), the sub-dominant, to tonicize F-sharp minor (the mediant) via a G-sharp in the altos (3:23). Beautiful!

Lauridsen’s work shows us that in setting text to music, we do not have to use text exactly as written. What do I mean? Lauridsen’s piece might have been brief had he set the original text with its original structure. But instead, Lauridsen edits the text and repeats phrases (e.g. “O magnum mysterium”) and even single words (e.g. sacramentum).

Ever since that concert in Moscow, Lauridsen’s O Magnum Mysterium has continued to be one of my favorite choral works. It is a composition of lyrical melody, gorgeous harmonies and... great mystery.

What are your favorite choral works? Share something about them and/or your thought’s on Lauridsen’s O Magnum Mysterium with a comment below.

---

[1]  Click here to go to the article “O Magnum Mysterium," Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Magnum_Mysterium.