textura

Todd Mason: Lux Æterna
Ulysses Arts

While American composer Todd Mason's release takes its name from one of four works presented, they collectively provide an illuminating portrait of the Los Angeles native (b.1957) and his abundant gifts. The award-winning Juilliard graduate's works have been performed on many of the globe's most prestigious stages and speak to his capacity to operate effectively within different idioms. Certainly the pieces presented on Lux Æterna, written between 2020 and 2024, exemplify the versatility, imagination, and authority for which Mason's known.

Each piece impresses in different ways, but Lux Æterna most of all. It's that rare choral work that should be immediately added to all vocal ensembles' repertoires. Joining it on the hour-long release are three more world premiére recordings, the String Quartet No. 3, City of Angels, and When You are Near. Ably realizing his visions are the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, Ars Brunensis Choir, Zelter String Quartet, the Budapest Scoring Orchestra, and vocalists Jana Vondru° (soprano), Aneta Podracká Bendová (alto), and Anna Schubert (soprano). Directing the ensembles are conductors Pavel Šnajdr (Lux Æterna), Peter Illényi (City of Angels), Zoltán Pad (When You are Near) and choir director Dan Kalousek.

Aware of other composers' choral contributions to the requiem tradition, Mason wanted to honour it while also imposing his own stamp. The first difference lies in its title—Lux Æterna in place of Requiem (a move that also displaces the focus from judgment to spiritual illumination), the related second in his decision to omit the "Dies Irae" and thus omitting the casting of the unsaved to eternal damnation from his treatment. Mason quotes lines from Clare Harner's poem Immortality to emphasize the comforting tone he wishes to impart: “I am the thousand winds that blow / I am the diamond glints in snow ... Do not stand by my grave, and cry / I am not there, I did not die.” As should be clear, Lux Æterna is a work designed to uplift, inspire, and console as opposed to one intent on instilling fear and trembling.

Unfolding in a continuous, twenty-two-minute form, the work begins with “Requiem dona eis” and ethereal vocal textures that rapidly give way to flute, harp, and strings. Moments of tender solemnity in turn cede the stage to the choir's expansive expressions, the music soothing and serene. With the advent of the declamatory cry “Kyrie, eleison,” the material surges in energy until an angelic duet by the alto and soprano lift the music heavenward. At the arrival of the second part, “In Paradisum,” the baton's passed to the choir as it echoes the rapture of the soloists. Eerie, almost Ligeti-esque harmonies signal a turn into mistier territory before another swell in energy charts a course for the heavens-opening third section, “Kyrie, eleison,” and the radiance of the second “In Paradisum.” Vondru and Bendová duet again, gloriously, until the choir and orchestra usher the work to a serene close. Certainly the vocal components of the performance impress, but the performance by Šnajdr and the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra is as distinguished.

Calling Strauss's 1898 tone poem Ein Heldenleben to mind, Mason's String Quartet No. 3 is subtitled “A Hero's Journey” and thus suggests the arc of a protagonist confronting challenges, persevering, and eventually emerging triumphant. Performed as a single-movement piece, the work progresses through five sections over fifteen minutes. An enigmatic, key signature-sidestepping intro lays out a mysterious landscape from which patterns slowly appear. Moving fluidly from shadowy contemplation to eventual fury, the music's thornier than what we might expect from Mason but gripping nonetheless, especially when delivered with the utmost conviction by the Zelter String Quartet.

Perpetuating the string quartet theme, City of Angels is Mason's reworking of his fourth quartet for string orchestra. Like any major city, there's a seedy underbelly to Los Angeles, but the composer's opted to celebrate the city he calls home with his three-part evocation. That said, the work does begin with “Restless City (Pensive)” and an acknowledgement of its capacity for intrigue and danger (think To Live and Die in LA or Day of the Locust). Tension's omnipresent as pizzicato and bowing by the Budapest Scoring Orchestra paint a haunting, even at times harrowing picture of the metropolis. The grime's wiped away for “Dream City (Expressive),” where a less caustic portrait emerges if one that's still noticeably brooding. Directing one's gaze to the distant stars from the Mount Wilson Observatory encourages sober reflections on one's humble place in the universe. It hardly surprises that the energy-charged “Irrepressible City (Festive and Fast!)” would resolve the work on an optimistic and celebratory note (interestingly, City of Angels wasn't recorded in LA but in Budapest).

Capping Lux Æterna is the five-minute When You Are Near, a compact yet memorable setting elevated by the luminous voice of soprano Anna Schubert (she is, yes, a distant relative of Franz's) and the Budapest Scoring Orchestra. Set to rhapsodic text by Mason, the work was intended by the composer as a fond remembrance for a departed loved one and is suitably wistful in tone. While the last words sung on the release are “I will always love you,” no one'll confuse Mason's powerful expression with Whitney Houston's Bodyguard anthem. His music soars as gloriously as hers but according to its own rules and within its own intensely personalized and imaginative realm.

February 2026


	Todd Mason: Lux Æterna Ulysses Arts While American composer Todd Mason's release takes its name from one of four works presented, they collectively provide an illuminating portrait of the Los Angeles native (b.1957) and his abundant gifts. The award-winning Juilliard graduate's works have been performed on many of the globe's most prestigious stages and speak to his capacity to operate effectively within different idioms. Certainly the pieces presented on Lux Æterna, written between 2020 and 2024, exemplify the versatility, imagination, and authority for which Mason's known. Each piece impresses in different ways, but Lux Æterna most of all. It's that rare choral work that should be immediately added to all vocal ensembles' repertoires. Joining it on the hour-long release are three more world premiére recordings, the String Quartet No. 3, City of Angels, and When You are Near. Ably realizing his visions are the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, Ars Brunensis Choir, Zelter String Quartet, the Budapest Scoring Orchestra, and vocalists Jana Vondru° (soprano), Aneta Podracká Bendová (alto), and Anna Schubert (soprano). Directing the ensembles are conductors Pavel Šnajdr (Lux Æterna), Peter Illényi (City of Angels), Zoltán Pad (When You are Near) and choir director Dan Kalousek. Aware of other composers' choral contributions to the requiem tradition, Mason wanted to honour it while also imposing his own stamp. The first difference lies in its title—Lux Æterna in place of Requiem (a move that also displaces the focus from judgment to spiritual illumination), the related second in his decision to omit the "Dies Irae" and thus omitting the casting of the unsaved to eternal damnation from his treatment. Mason quotes lines from Clare Harner's poem Immortality to emphasize the comforting tone he wishes to impart: “I am the thousand winds that blow / I am the diamond glints in snow ... Do not stand by my grave, and cry / I am not there, I did not die.” As should be clear, Lux Æterna is a work designed to uplift, inspire, and console as opposed to one intent on instilling fear and trembling. Unfolding in a continuous, twenty-two-minute form, the work begins with “Requiem dona eis” and ethereal vocal textures that rapidly give way to flute, harp, and strings. Moments of tender solemnity in turn cede the stage to the choir's expansive expressions, the music soothing and serene. With the advent of the declamatory cry “Kyrie, eleison,” the material surges in energy until an angelic duet by the alto and soprano lift the music heavenward. At the arrival of the second part, “In Paradisum,” the baton's passed to the choir as it echoes the rapture of the soloists. Eerie, almost Ligeti-esque harmonies signal a turn into mistier territory before another swell in energy charts a course for the heavens-opening third section, “Kyrie, eleison,” and the radiance of the second “In Paradisum.” Vondru and Bendová duet again, gloriously, until the choir and orchestra usher the work to a serene close. Certainly the vocal components of the performance impress, but the performance by Šnajdr and the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra is as distinguished. Calling Strauss's 1898 tone poem Ein Heldenleben to mind, Mason's String Quartet No. 3 is subtitled “A Hero's Journey” and thus suggests the arc of a protagonist confronting challenges, persevering, and eventually emerging triumphant. Performed as a single-movement piece, the work progresses through five sections over fifteen minutes. An enigmatic, key signature-sidestepping intro lays out a mysterious landscape from which patterns slowly appear. Moving fluidly from shadowy contemplation to eventual fury, the music's thornier than what we might expect from Mason but gripping nonetheless, especially when delivered with the utmost conviction by the Zelter String Quartet. Perpetuating the string quartet theme, City of Angels is Mason's reworking of his fourth quartet for string orchestra. Like any major city, there's a seedy underbelly to Los Angeles, but the composer's opted to celebrate the city he calls home with his three-part evocation. That said, the work does begin with “Restless City (Pensive)” and an acknowledgement of its capacity for intrigue and danger (think To Live and Die in LA or Day of the Locust). Tension's omnipresent as pizzicato and bowing by the Budapest Scoring Orchestra paint a haunting, even at times harrowing picture of the metropolis. The grime's wiped away for “Dream City (Expressive),” where a less caustic portrait emerges if one that's still noticeably brooding. Directing one's gaze to the distant stars from the Mount Wilson Observatory encourages sober reflections on one's humble place in the universe. It hardly surprises that the energy-charged “Irrepressible City (Festive and Fast!)” would resolve the work on an optimistic and celebratory note (interestingly, City of Angels wasn't recorded in LA but in Budapest). Capping Lux Æterna is the five-minute When You Are Near, a compact yet memorable setting elevated by the luminous voice of soprano Anna Schubert (she is, yes, a distant relative of Franz's) and the Budapest Scoring Orchestra. Set to rhapsodic text by Mason, the work was intended by the composer as a fond remembrance for a departed loved one and is suitably wistful in tone. While the last words sung on the release are “I will always love you,” no one'll confuse Mason's powerful expression with Whitney Houston's Bodyguard anthem. His music soars as gloriously as hers but according to its own rules and within its own intensely personalized and imaginative realm. February 2026