I think it is worldly known now, that superstar violinist Anne Akiko Meyers’ imagination and ingenuity knows no bounds. Thus, her idea to persuade leading living composer Morten Lauridsen to transform his choral masterpiece, O Magnum Mysterium, into a work for violin and choir is a masterstroke.

Teaming up with conductor Grant Gershon – who first collaborated with Anne as chamber musicians over 40 years ago – and the Los Angeles Master Chorale, for whom Lauridsen was their first Composer in Residence, Anne rounds out this 4-track EP with three other arrangements for violin and chorus of ever-popular works by J.S. Bach.

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685–1750), arr. Samuel Adler – World Premiere
1. Jesu, joy of man’s desiring (3:34)

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH, arr. Len Rhodes – World Premiere
2. Sheep may safely graze (4:19)
3. Wachet auf, Sleepers wake (4:21)

MORTEN LAURIDSEN (1943–), arr. Gershon/Lauridsen
4. O Magnum Mysterium (6:35)

Recorded at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, March 21st, 2022, this sumptuous, mesmerizingly cognizant new recording, opens on a trio from Johann Sebastian Bach: an incredibly impassioned, achingly-craved Jesu, joy of man’s desiring, the joyously-embolden Sheep may safely graze, and then a rather harmoniously captivating Wachet auf, Sleepers wake, the EP coming to a close on Morten Lauridsen’s titular O Magnum Mysterium; a recording that itself is as spiritually embracing, as wholly beguiling as you could ever wish it to be heard.

Musicians:
Anne Akiko Meyers, violin
Los Angeles Master Chorale
Grant Gershon, conductor
Jaebon Hwang, organ (1-3)

Mysterium - Featuring Anne Akiko Meyers, Grant Gershon & Los Angeles Master Chorale [Official Video]

Official Purchase Link

Official Website