NOCTURNES
I. Sa nuit d’ete
II. Soneto de la noche
III. Sure on This Shining Night
IV. Epilogue: Voici le soir
Morten Lauridsen
Delaware Choral Scholars
Paul D Head · conductor
Lori Geckle · piano
JAM on the Marsh festival 2023
Bringing an international flavour to the festival, the Delaware Choral Scholars and their renowned conductor Dr Paul Head bring a brilliant programme that truly ‘crosses the pond’ from one of the United States’ finest composers Morten Lauridsen to contemporary Brits, Paul Mealor and Jonathan Dove, via one of the great choral masterpieces, Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb and American Spirituals.
Morten Lauridsen’s Nocturnes addresses aspects of the common theme of ‘Night’. His setting of Rilke’s impassioned and atmospheric Sa Nuit d’ete is rich with dense, colourful harmonies, while Soneto de la noche is quiet, serene and fold-like, reflecting the eloquence with which the poet Pablo Neruda speaks of everlasting eternal love. Sure on the shining night is a lyrical, beautiful setting of James Agee’s well-loved poem. Rilke is the source of the epilogue, Voici le soir, bringing the Nocturnes to a quiet end as darkness arrives.
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