Content
+“Lux Aeterna” is a 1997 choral work by composer Morten Lauridsen. It’s scored for choir and chamber orchestra, leading to an intimate rather than bombastic sound. This also plays well with the text that is used, which, rather than the traditional setting of a requiem — a mass which includes lots of talk about miraculous trumpets and days of wrath — focuses much more on peace, light, and rest. Lauridsen wrote “Lux Aeterna” during his mother’s last days as a way to cope with a grief that he knew was coming. Rather than lean into the sudden finality that comes with the traditional requiem mass, it emphasizes a gentle acceptance of death.
Structure
+The piece is broken up into five movements, leading with “Introitus”. This movement opens with one of the lowest notes a contrabass can play and one of the highest notes a violin can play, both played incredibly quietly. The distance between the pitches leads to a sense of openness and majesty