Shining Night: A Portrait of Composer Morten Lauridsen (NR)

synopsis

Shining Night, winner of three Best Documentary awards and called 'a heartening rarity' by Wall Street Journal, offers a glimpse into the life and music of one of America's greatest contemporary composers, National Medal of Arts recipient Morten Lauridsen, who has written much of his remarkable music in his rustic cabin on Waldron Island and his home on San Juan Island. He has been called 'the only American composer in history who can be called a mystic' by musicologist Nick Strimple.

Exploring the relationship of art, nature, and spirituality, Shining Night reveals the composer through the lens of his love for the natural world together with his passion for music and poetry, interwoven with commentaries from composers, conductors, singers, and friends.