Unger M.P. Historical Dictionary of Choral Music
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dichotomy. Among his more than 40 choral works are sets of motets,
madrigals, and folksongs; masses (including two German settings,
one of which calls for orchestra); the oratorios Symeon der Stylit, op.
78b, for solo vv., choir, and orch. (1937, rev. 1987) and Opus sine
nomine, op. 238, for solo vv., chorus, and orch. (1980–88); Lamen-
tatio Jeremiae prophetae, op. 93 (1942); works for male and female
chorus (including Cantata for Wartime, op. 95, for female vv. and
orch. [1943]), and canons. Among his writings is Studies in Counter-
point Based on the Twelve-Tone Technique (New York: G. Schirmer,
1940), a basic textbook on twelve-tone theory with examples from
his own compositions.
KRIEGER, JOHANN (BAPTIZED 1 JANUARY 1652; DIED 18
JULY 1735). German composer and organist, younger brother of Jo-
hann Philipp Krieger. In his early career, he followed his brother to
positions in Bayreuth and Halle, then worked at court positions in the
nearby towns of Greiz and Eisenberg before moving in 1682 to Zittau
(east of Dresden) as organist at the Johanniskirche (later also becom-
ing the town music director). He remained in Zittau for the remaining
53 years of his life. He was renowned as a composer of keyboard
music, and was especially known for his skilled counterpoint. His
surviving vocal ensemble works include one dozen church cantatas,
a handful of motets, 2 Magnificats, and 5 Sanctus settings.
KRIEGER, JOHANN PHILIP (BAPTIZED 27 FEBRUARY 1649;
DIED 6 FEBRUARY 1725). German composer, keyboard player,
and organist, who showed early musical promise. After initial studies
in Copenhagen, he returned to Germany, taking an appointment at the
Bayreuth court (though records are confusing with regard to dates).
After some years in Italy, he became organist at Halle (1677). In 1680
he was appointed Kapellmeister at the court of Weissenfels, where he
remained until his death, composing both sacred and secular works.
From 1684 Krieger kept a record of every vocal work he performed.
The catalog, which was maintained by his son (and successor) after
his death, lists 2,000 church cantatas by the composer. Unfortu-
nately, all but 76 are lost. Krieger is significant for adopting madri-
galian poetry for his cantata texts, allowing him to write recitatives
and arias in the Italian style. Not coincidentally, the clergyman-
poet who introduced such sacred verse in Germany, Erdman Neu-
meister, was appointed deacon to the Weissenfels court in 1704.
242 • KRIEGER, JOHANN
Thus Krieger is regarded as the father of the “new” or “reformed”
cantata in Germany. Nevertheless, of Krieger’s surviving cantatas,
only one has a libretto by Neumeister: Rufet nicht die Weisheit
(1699). Also surviving is a mass, a Magnificat setting, and a few
other miscellaneous sacred pieces. See also KRIEGER, JOHANN.
KUHNAU, JOHANN (6 APRIL 1660–5 JUNE 1722). German
organist, composer, writer on music, lawyer, and scholar. He was
organist at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig from 1684. From 1701 he
was Kantor at the Thomaskirche and the Nikolaikirche, and teacher
at the Thomasschule, succeeded by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1723.
Although better known for his keyboard works, Kuhnau also wrote
vocal works, of which only some two dozen German cantatas and
a half-dozen Latin works survive. In his choral cantatas, elaborate
choruses alternate with recitatives, arias (often of the da capo type),
and occasionally chorales.
KVERNO, TROND (20 OCTOBER 1945– ). Norwegian composer
and organist. Holding a degree in church music as well as one in the-
ory and choral directing from Oslo Conservatory, he has devoted his
life to church music. He has taught at the Norwegian State Academy
of Music since 1973, the year of its founding. There he specializes
in composition and improvisation. Although he has worked mostly
within the Lutheran tradition, he was ordained a priest in the Old
Catholic Church in 1996. Active in liturgical reform, he has written
numerous hymns that have been adopted throughout Scandinavia
and in Germany.
Kverno’s choral compositions include Livets tre (Missa brevis
octavi toni), for solo voice, SATB, and insts. (1972); Rydd vei for
Herren (Vigilie for St. Hans Natt), for children’s chorus, SATB, and
insts. (1975); Ave maris stella (1976); Missa fidei mysterii (1980);
Passio Domini Nostri Jesu Christi secundum Mattheum, for S, A, C,
4 T, Bar., 2 B, and double choir (1986); Ave verum corpus (1988);
Missa in sono tubae, for solo voice, SATB, and brass (1990); Stabat
mater (1991); Te Deum, for A, T, Bar., B, and male chorus (1994);
Two Sacred Pieces: Salve Regina, Symbolum Nicenum (1996);
among other cantatas and sacred works. His St. Matthew Passion is
noteworthy for being one of the largest unaccompanied compositions
written in Scandinavia during the 20th century. Requiring 10 soloists
and double choir, it assigns the part of Jesus to a male quartet.
KVERNO, TROND • 243
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LALANDE, MICHEL-RICHARD DE (15 DECEMBER 1657–18
JUNE 1726). French composer, harpsichordist, and organist. During
the 1670s, he held several posts in Paris churches, and from 1683,
he held positions of increasing importance and duration at the court
Louis XIV, who favored him. Although he also composed music for
instruments and the theater, he was most famous for his 77 grand
motets—settings of Latin psalms for solo voices, five-part choir, and
orchestra, written for the royal chapel. They were highly favored by
the king, who ordered that copies be made for the court. Lalande took
great care in their composition and frequently revised them later, espe-
cially after the influx of Italian music after 1700. Their inherent vari-
ety and emotional expressiveness was only enhanced by the changes,
which included greater sectionalization (resulting in self-contained
movements), more elaborate arias (often with obbligato accompani-
ment but not in da capo form), increased use of counterpoint, greater
independence of instrumental parts, alternative endings, and adjust-
ments to the relative emphasis of particular passages. Disseminated
and performed widely, they continued to be popular long after the
composer’s death. Throughout the 18th century, they were performed
in the royal chapel, and for decades they were an integral part of the
repertoire performed at the Concert Spirituel in Paris (established in
1725). Forty of them were published with reduced orchestration in a
posthumous engraved edition of 21 volumes (1729–34). Evidently
Lalande wrote very little other vocal ensemble music.
LAMBE, WALTER (C. 1450–1504). English composer. Eight of his
works (for four to six voices) appear in the Eton Choirbook, an
important source of Latin sacred music in England, compiled just
before 1500.
LAMENTATIONS [LAMENTATIONES, THRENI]. The biblical
lamentations of the prophet Jeremiah, some of which were tradition-
ally sung in Matins of the Roman rite on Thursday, Friday, and
Saturday of Holy Week. They were set polyphonically by leading
composers from about 1450 until about 1650, after which solo set-
tings in the operatic style began to predominate.
LAMENTO BASS (DESCENDING CHROMATIC TETRA-
CHORD). A bass line that descends chromatically the interval of
244 • LALANDE, MICHEL-RICHARD DE
a fourth, often repeated as a ground bass and used as a symbol of
lament. Famous examples of pieces built on the lamento bass include
the “Crucifixus” in Johann Sebastian Bach’s Mass in B Minor.
LANDINI, FRANCESCO (C. 1325–2 SEPTEMBER 1397). Italian
composer, organist, instrument builder, singer, and poet. Blinded by
smallpox as a child, he became the preeminent composer of the Italian
Trecento, who led the polyphonic ballata to eclipse the madrigal and
caccia in the last third of the century. During his early career, he may
have worked for a time in Venice; from about 1360 until his death, he
lived in Florence. Only his secular music is extant. Among surviving
works are primarily 140 ballate (89 for two voices, 42 for three) and
12 madrigals (largely for two voices). It is possible that he authored his
own texts. Most of his works appear in the Squarcialupi Manuscript.
LANGLAIS, JEAN (15 FEBRUARY 1907–8 MAY 1991). French
organist and composer. Blind from infancy, he studied at the Institut
National des Jeunes Aveugles (1917–30) and at the Paris Conserva-
toire (1927–34). From 1931 he taught organ, composition, and choral
singing at the Institut. In 1945 he became organist at Ste. Clotilde, a
position he retained until 1987. He performed and taught repeatedly
in the United States. His choral works include six masses with organ
accompaniment (among them, the Mass Salve regina, for 3 T, unison
male chorus, 2 org., and 8 brass [1954], and the Solemn Mass Orbis
factor, for SATB and org. [1969]); and more than a dozen other sa-
cred works, among them, three psalm settings for solo vv., chorus,
org., brass, and timp. (1965).
LANTINS, ARNOLD DE (DIED BEFORE 2 JULY 1432). Composer
whose works appear largely in manuscripts of northern Italy, dating
from the 1420s and 1430s. Although few details about his life are
known, the prominence of his pieces in manuscripts suggests that he
was regarded highly. In 1423 both he and Hugo de Lantins were mem-
bers of the chapel of Malatesta di Malatestis at Pesaro; both apparently
knew Guillaume Dufay. Surviving compositions include one mass
cycle, a composite mass (with Gloria and Credo added by Johannes
Ciconia), some Gloria-Credo pairs; and one dozen French rondeaux
(for three voices), among a few other sacred and secular pieces.
LANTINS, HUGO DE (FLOURISHED 1420s). Composer, whose
relationship to Arnold de Lantins is unclear. In 1423 both men were
LANTINS, HUGO DE • 245
members of the chapel of Malatesta di Malatestis at Pesaro, and both
apparently knew Guillaume Dufay. Surviving compositions include
some mass movements, a handful of Latin motets, some one dozen
French rondeaux, and four Italian secular pieces.
LA RUE, PIERRE DE (C. 1452–20 NOVEMBER 1518). Franco-
Flemish composer, who is noteworthy for the quantity, inventive-
ness, and liturgical breadth of his music. A contemporary of Jacob
Obrecht and the more famous Josquin des Prez, he apparently spent
his career in the Franco-Flemish region, with the exception of two
trips to Spain as a diplomatic emissary for the Habsburg-Burgundian
court, which he had served as a member of chapel from 1492. Many
of his works are well preserved in manuscripts prepared at the court;
they were also widely disseminated elsewhere through manuscripts
and publications—for example, in 1503 Ottaviano Petrucci devoted
a whole publication to his masses. La Rue was a master of counter-
point, being especially adept at the use of canon and ostinato, but he
also used a variety of other techniques. Like Josquin, he often used
paired voices in a varied (though predominantly imitative) texture.
He was one of the earliest composers to use parody technique.
Although most of his 30 extant masses are for four voices, 11 call
for five, and one for six—an indication of either a progressive stance
or a relatively late time of composition. The majority use cantus
firmus, although usually not in a strict manner. His Requiem mass
is among the earliest polyphonic settings to survive. Of about two
dozen securely attributed motets, almost all are for four voices.
About half use preexisting material, and many incorporate canonic
writing. Other surviving sacred works include individual mass move-
ments (especially Credo settings), and a cycle of seven Magnificats
on the various reciting tones—the earliest known such cycle (which,
incidentally, is of the alternatim type, including even verses only).
Surviving secular works include some two dozen securely attributed
chansons, mostly for four voices. Although similar in style to the
sacred compositions (i.e., essentially contrapuntal), the chansons
make little use of preexisting material or canonic technique.
LASSUS, ORLANDE DE [ORLANDO DI LASSO] (1530/32–14
JUNE 1594). Franco-Flemish composer. He was one of the fore-
most representatives of the mature Franco-Flemish polyphonic
style. A versatile and prolific composer, he wrote at least 1,500 vocal
246 • LA RUE, PIERRE DE
compositions in all the major vocal genres of the time. By the end of
his life he was the most influential musician in Europe, despite the
fact that he apparently composed no strictly instrumental works. Of
his many influential publications two stand out: five large volumes
of sacred music entitled Patrocinium musices (1573–76) and a vol-
ume published posthumously by his sons, the Magnus opus musicum
(1604).
Little is known of Lassus’s early life. Although he was probably
a choirboy in Mons (where he was born), the stories of his being
kidnapped three times because of his beautiful voice are perhaps
apocryphal. At the age of 12, he entered the employ of Ferrante
Gonzaga, with whom he traveled to Paris, Mantua, Palermo, and
Milan. He evidently lived in Milan from 1546 to 1549. About 1549
he went to Naples, where he apparently began to compose. At the
end of 1551, he traveled to Rome; in 1553 he became maestro di
cappella at San Giovanni in Laterano (Basilica of St. John Lateran),
a surprising honor for someone so young. About a year later, he re-
turned home to visit his parents, who were ill; unfortunately they died
before his arrival. In 1555 he was in Antwerp. That year his works
began to appear in print—a book of five-voice madrigals was issued
by Gardano of Venice, and a collection of four-voice madrigals, vil-
lanellas, French chansons, and Latin motets was printed by Tylman
Susato of Antwerp. In 1556 a book of five- and six-part motets was
published in Antwerp.
From 1556 until the end of his life, he worked in Munich for Al-
brecht V, Duke of Bavaria (a lavish patron of the arts), and his heir,
Wilhelm V. By 1563 Lassus had risen to the position of maestro di
cappella. His steadily growing fame was due in no small part to a con-
stant stream of publications, and the court was soon regarded as the
foremost musical establishment in Europe. Visitors included Andrea
Gabrieli (who accompanied the chapel in 1562 to the Frankfurt coro-
nation of Maximilian II), and Giovanni Gabrieli (in the 1570s).
In 1570 Lassus was ennobled by the emperor. Subsequent honors
included trips to the French court of Charles IX at the king’s invitation
(early 1570s) and a knighthood from Pope Gregory XIII (1574).
When Wilhelm V succeeded his father in 1579, he inherited a
court that was deeply in debt. He consequently reduced the size of
the chapel, despite a personal friendship with Lassus and his own
evident musical interests. Lassus remained in Munich, however, even
LASSUS, ORLANDE DE • 247
refusing an offer from the Dresden court. In the 1580s he visited Italy
again, where he encountered the newest musical styles and trends, in
particular, the new style being cultivated at Ferrara. Nevertheless, his
own music became consciously more conservative, perhaps a result
of his poor health and increasing depression.
Lassus’s output is staggering. Surviving works include some 60
securely attributed masses, 4 Passions, about 110 Magnificats, over
750 motets, nearly 260 madrigals, some 150 French chansons, about
30 villanellas, some 90 German Lieder (some with sacred texts,
among them, psalms), plus litanies, mass propers, Nunc Dimittis
settings, and other sacred music.
Although the masses were not as famous in his day as the motets,
they were nevertheless highly regarded. Almost all of them are for
four, five, or six voices. Most are parody masses, based on motets
(usually his own), French chansons (mostly of the Parisian type), or
Italian madrigals. They are relatively conservative in style. Among
their number are numerous syllabic missae breves.
Most of the Magnificat settings are of the alternatim type, and set
even verses only. In scoring, they range from four to 10 voices; most,
however, are for five or six voices. About 40 of them use parody
technique, with his own works often serving as models; the others
are almost invariably based on the canticle tones. Some of these are
grouped in cycles, with each of the eight tones represented.
Because of the motets’ great number and variety, it is difficult to
make generalizations about them. In scoring, they range from three
to 12 voices. Overall, they are notable for their beauty, expressive-
ness, and rhetorical impact—a synthesis of Italian melody, French
elegance, and northern polyphony. They tend to be succinct, with
short points of imitation (which is less strict than that of his con-
temporaries), clear harmonic outlines, and frequent chordal declama-
tion. Canonic and cantus firmus techniques, when they occur, serve
expressive purposes. Many of the motets were probably performed
in the Mass and the divine offices at the Munich court chapel; others
were perhaps used in private devotional exercises. Some were obvi-
ously intended for ceremonial occasions. Related to the motets are
12 textless bicinia, which were apparently intended as instructional
works in counterpoint. The most famous motets are perhaps the
seven Psalmi Davidis poenitentiales for five voices (published 1584)
and the highly chromatic Prophetiae Sibyllarum for four voices (12
248 • LASSUS, ORLANDE DE
works dealing with the legend of the Sibyl prophetesses who foretold
the coming of Christ). The latter were performed during his lifetime,
but not published until 1600.
Many of Lassus’s madrigals (which are usually for four or five
voices) were written in the earlier part of his career, and published by
1567. Here too, beauty, balance, and economy of expression are typi-
cal. A further publication in 1585 shows his awareness of the newer
Italian styles. Some collections demonstrate a cyclical unity. A 1595
volume entitled Lagrime di S Pietro . . . con un mottetto nel fine com-
prises a cycle of madrigali spirituali for seven voices; it is character-
ized by a blend of diverse styles. Related to his madrigals are the vari-
ous villanellas (sometimes “vilanesce”), which proved very popular.
Most of his chansons, which number around 150 and are chiefly for
four and five voices, appear in two “miscellaneous” volumes published
by the Parisian firm of Le Roy & Ballard (1576 and 1584). Ranging
from the dignified to the bawdy, they proved very popular and were
often reprinted, particularly also in arrangements for the lute.
Many of Lassus’s Lieder employ sacred texts. Included among their
number are those appearing in a volume of three-voice psalm settings,
which were the result of a collaboration with his son Rudolf to set the
texts of the Ulenberg Psalter. Published in 1588, their austere character
reflects the Counter-Reformation purpose of the German psalter from
which the tunes were taken (i.e., to combat Lutheran hymn-singing)
and perhaps also the melancholy from which Lassus suffered at the end
of his life. Of the other Lieder, most are for five voices.
LAUDA. A vernacular, nonliturgical song of religious devotion, cul-
tivated in Italy during the Medieval and Renaissance eras. Sung by
lay confraternities (especially in Florence), the lauda was initially
monophonic. By 1430 it had become polyphonic—the music being
borrowed from other sources and indicated in each case with a rubric
rather than musical notation. Later works with their own (notated) mu-
sical settings were cultivated mostly at monasteries in or near Venice.
The form reached its peak during the age of the frottola (c. 1490
to 1530). Not surprisingly, the two genres resembled each other at
this time and, as in the development of the frottola, three-voice works
gave way to ones for four voices. The form began to lose its identity
when Ottaviano Petrucci published laude with Latin texts and more
complex (polyphonic) textures.
LAUDA • 249
The genre’s last creative phase occurred at the end of the 16th
century. As a simpler alternative to the motet (with syllabic, homo-
rhythmic text-setting), it played an important role in the religious ex-
ercises of Filippo Neri’s Roman Congregazione dell’Oratorio and, in
its dramatic manifestations, led to the development of the oratorio.
LAURIDSEN, MORTEN JOHANNES (27 FEBRUARY 1943– ).
American choral composer. From 1994 to 2001 he was composer-
in-residence of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, and for three de-
cades he was professor of composition at the University of Southern
California. Minimalist structures, coloristic harmonies, and melodic
contours influenced by Gregorian chant give his pieces a serene,
contemplative quality. Although he is not a prolific composer, his
seven vocal cycles (Les Chansons des Roses, Mid-Winter Songs,
Cuatro Canciones, A Winter Come, Madrigali: Six “Fire Songs”
on Renaissance Italian Poems, Nocturnes, and Lux Aeterna) and his
sacred, unaccompanied motets (O Magnum Mysterium, Ave Maria,
O Nata Lux, Ubi Caritas et Amor, and Ave Dulcissima Maria) have
become staples in the choral repertoire.
LAWES, HENRY (5 JANUARY 1596–21 OCTOBER 1662). English
composer and singer, older brother of William Lawes. He worked at
the Chapel Royal from 1626. During the Commonwealth, he taught
privately. At the Restoration, he returned to court life, his anthem
Zadok the Priest being used for the 1661 coronation of Charles II. He
was an advocate of English music, and decried Italian musical influ-
ence in England. Although he is remembered primarily for his songs
(of which more than 400 are extant), he also composed sacred choral
music. Surviving works include Choice Psalmes Put into Musick,
for three voices and basso continuo (a volume published in 1648 as
a memorial to his brother) and some 25 anthems, of which only six
are complete.
LAWES, WILLIAM (BAPTIZED 1 MAY 1602; DIED 24 SEP-
TEMBER 1645). English composer, younger brother of Henry
Lawes. Few details about his life are substantiated. He worked at the
court of Charles I (along with his brother) until his untimely death in
battle during the English Civil War. Although his fame rested mostly
on his music for instruments, dance, and the theater, he nevertheless
wrote much vocal music, especially secular pieces. Among them are
nearly 100 works for two or more voices (some of them incomplete,
250 • LAURIDSEN, MORTEN JOHANNES
a third of them catches). Also extant are about 50 anthems and some
one dozen sacred canons—with some exceptions, all of these are for
three voices. Although none of his works were published during his
lifetime, his death was mourned by the 1648 publication of Choice
Psalmes, a volume edited by Henry, which contained 30 three-voice
sacred works with basso continuo (among others by William), 30
pieces by Henry, and elegies by other composers.
LAYTON, STEPHEN (23 DECEMBER 1966– ). English conductor.
He is founder and conductor of Polyphony, music director of the
Holst Singers, director of music at The Temple Church (London),
principal conductor of the Netherlands Chamber Choir, and prin-
cipal guest conductor of the Danish National Radio Choir. He has
collaborated with composers such as John Tavener and Arvo Pärt
in first performances of their music, among them, the premiere of
Tavener’s seven-hour vigil, The Veil of the Temple (2003).
LEACH, MARY JANE (12 JUNE 1949– ). American composer. She
is notable especially for her choral works, which are often haunt-
ing and ethereal, focusing on acoustic effect rather than discernible
musical structure. Many are for treble voices (often in as many as
eight parts). Examples include Bruckstück, for eight-part women’s
chorus, which cites material from Anton Bruckner’s Eighth Sym-
phony (commissioned by the Cologne Department of Culture, 1989);
Green Mountain Madrigal (1985) and Mountain Echoes (1987), both
for eight-part women’s chorus and both inspired by Claudio Mon-
teverdi; Ariadne’s Lament, for eight-part women’s chorus (1993);
O Magna Vasti Creta, for eight-part women’s chorus and str. qt.
(1997); Ceremony of the Bull, for SSAATB and str. qt. (1998); Minos
(1999), for T and SSAATB chorus; Night Blossoms for SATB chorus
(2001); and I Sing of Warfare for T, TTBB, and str. qt. (2001).
LECHNER, LEONHARD (C. 1553–9 SEPTEMBER 1606). German
composer and music editor. He evidently served at the Bavarian court
chapel under Orlande de Lassus, who greatly influenced him. He
probably visited Italy, although a trip is not definitively documented.
By 1575 he was an assistant teacher at St. Lorenz School in Nurem-
berg, where worked some 10 years, gaining a considerable reputation
as a composer despite his lowly position. In 1583, to advance his
career, he accepted the post of Kapellmeister at the Catholic court
of Count Eitelfriedrich IV at Hechingen. However, as a staunch
LECHNER, LEONHARD • 251