This production is dedicated to the works of two American composers, of whom Morten Lauridsen is certainly better known in Germany. His choral work O magnum mysterium (1994) has become one of the most celebrated pieces in contemporary choral literature in recent years. As a creator of primarily vocal music, Lauridsen received numerous awards, including the National Medal of Arts in 2007. From 1994 to 2001, he served as composer in residence with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, one of America’s leading professional choirs, which also premiered his Lux aeterna. All five movements of this cycle refer to the “Eternal Light.” While Lauridsen was setting the underlying liturgical texts to music, his mother was dying – but the words about light as a universal symbol of all-encompassing enlightenment gave him consolation.

Jake Runestad is one of the newest additions to the list of great American composers and is establishing his place in US music history. He has received commissions from the Washington National Opera, the vocal ensemble VOCES8, and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, among others. His first album, The Hope of Loving, was immediately nominated for a GRAMMY Award. A passionate mountaineer and camper, Runestad finds nature a great source of inspiration. In his Earth Symphony, Mother Earth herself is given a voice; the five interrelated sections deal with her destruction, her sorrow, her healing, and her hope for humanity.