The Seattle Choral Company’s mid-season concert brings back to the repertory a true masterpiece of the 20th century – Morten Lauridsen’s “Lux Aeterna.” The SCC presented the first Seattle performance of this beloved contemporary work in May of 2000, with the composer (a Washington native) in attendance. About the performance, Seattle Times music critic Melinda Bargreen wrote, “The audience was already on its feet, with a standing ovation for the Seattle Choral Company’s first Seattle performance of Morten Lauridsen’s ‘Lux Aeterna’.”
Since its world premiere in 1997, Lauridsen’s luminous “Lux Aeterna” has made a lasting international impact. Lauridsen’s music remains a powerful magnet for choral ensembles as well as music lovers around the world.
This concert will also feature two choral works from the 18th and 19th centuries: “Misericordias Domini, K. 222,” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; and the “Mass No. 2 in G Major,” by Franz Schubert. Both of these works, written when the composers were quite young, express youthful energy and early genius. Mozart penned his “Misericordias Domini” when he was 19 years old, and Schubert composed his “Mass in G Major” at the age of 18.
Joining the Seattle Choral Company for the performance of Schubert’s “Mass No. 2 in G Major” will be a trio of accomplished Seattle soloists: Ellaina Lewis, soprano; Brendan Tuohy, tenor; and Darrell Jordan, baritone. Members of the North Corner Chamber Orchestra will complete the roster of guest artists for this concert of choral masterworks spanning three centuries.
