Morten Lauridsen's setting of Lux aeterna - a five-movement, non-liturgical requiem for a SATB choir and chamber orchestra/organ - is a rich and intensely moving work. Choral textures are fully explored, from the sonorous, slow unfolding of the ‚Introitus' and the intricate counterpoint and paired voices of In te, Domine, speravi, to the cappella motet O nata lux and spirited canticle Veni, Sancte Spiritus. The last movement - a sublime Agnus Dei preceding the final Lux aeterna - closes with a joyous Alleluia to provide an uplifting conclusion to this most powerful work.
This chorus/organ version of Lux aeterna was jointly premiered the weekend of 26-27 April, 1997 in Portland by Oregon's celebrated chamber chorus, Choral Cross-Ties, conducted by Bruce Browne, and by the Los Angeles Master Chorale at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.