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I think I'll give some of this fellow's works a shot!

He was involved in the production of vocal background for many "classic" movies, that is, the ones that were made when the movie industry was still young and had to appeal to audiences that were overall more innocent than they are today.  

Many of the "cast of thousands" movies made before 1960 used choral singers for background music.  Paul Salamunovich was of Slav heritage, and this combined with his appreciation for that "big choral sound" that was popular in more innocent times convinced him of its enduring value.  And the same tone works so well in liturgical music.  It is the appropriate sound for Mass, to be clear on this, and the human voice is the primary instrument for Mass, higher than the organ.  The angels in heaven sing the praises of God with their voices and there is no organ music in heaven for it is inadequate in comparison.

After many years of pursuing him to direct the L.A. Master Chorale, finally, they achieved their goal, and he assumed the position of Conductor for ten years, beginning the year ABL passed away, 1991.  It was a big job to "take their vocal perspective back two or three generations," to sing the way their grandparents, upon hearing it, would have caused them "to break down in tears of appreciation."  It was a fading art at that time, and even with his dedication, it remains today a still-fading art.

The art he learned and taught was founded on his appreciation for Gregorian Chant, sung to its highest perfection.  Tragically, too many choirs singing Chant don't know what this perfection is, at all.  And when you try to tell them about it, they just cannot quite understand what you're talking about, because it goes to the first principles of every utterance in the music.

The trick for the performer is, when the perfect sound is achieved, the singer cannot allow this sentimentalism to overtake him because that destroys his own ability to make the perfect sound in the first place.  He must, rather, be fully aware of the ideal to which he aspires, even while he removes his present sense of appreciation for it.  The purpose of the art is first and foremost for the greater glory of God, by way of those listeners present who hear it at a distance, and only secondarily for those who are making it happen.  The "best seats in the house" are those near the center, neither too far forward nor too far back.

After he stepped down in 2001, the L.A. Master Chorale gradually resumed its modernizing style again, as if they had never known the great Salamunovich.  He died a somewhat broken man, but he was unable to speak this truth in public -- only to his closest friends, and to those he knew would listen.  From an observer's point of view, he was fortunate to not suffer hearing loss in his last years, and until he went into nursing care, his mind was very sharp.  

He is survived by his wife, Dottie, sons John, Stephen, Joseph and Thomas; brother Joseph; son-in-law Gordon; daughters-in-law Claire, Sheila, Meredith and Nancy; 11 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.  (Source)

There are a few YouTube videos that feature his works.


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The Rosary is tonight and the mass of Christian burial is tomorrow:







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University of Southern California
USC Thornton School of Music
Morten Lauridsen, Jo-Michael Scheibe remember Paul Salamunovich

"Paul’s name will live on in so many ways. Not only by my music, but in all the lives he touched.”


[picture of Paul in his home study in North Hollywood on Valley Spring Lane]



Paul Salamunovich, former conductor of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, passed away on April 3, 2014.


Paul Salamunovich, widely recognized as one of America’s most influential choral conductors, passed away on Thursday, April 3. His name is most closely associated with the Los Angeles Master Chorale (LAMC), which flourished under his direction from 1991 until 2001, cementing the Chorale as one of the world’s top choirs.

Salamunovich also had ties to USC Thornton; he served as adjunct professor of Choral Music from 2007-2008, and also frequently collaborated with USC Distinguished Professor of Composition, Morten Lauridsen, who served as Composer-in-Residence at LAMC during Salamunovich’s tenure.

“He was a choral man through and through,” Lauridsen said of Salamunovich. “He was as fine of a man as I’ve ever met. We will be very much bound through history together because of the works I composed for him while at the Los Angeles Master Chorale. It’s a huge loss, but when I look back upon it, we were so fortunate to have him as long as we did.”

Salamunovich’s long and distinguished conducting career began at the age of 22, when conductor Roger Wagner installed Salamunovich as director of the St. Charles Borromeo choir in North Hollywood. For the next 60 years, Salamunovich led the St. Charles choir in many high-profile performances including appearances at national conventions, in scores of major motion pictures, and even at a private performance for Pope John II at the Vatican.

“He was larger than life,” said Jo-Michael Scheibe, chair of the Department of Choral and Sacred Music. “Paul was very committed to making sure choral music transcended notes and rhythms, and was part of the soul. My memories of him go back to being a high school student under his leadership. Experiencing his intensity, his passion and his understanding of text changed me for life. I had such respect for him as a musician.”

Wagner, himself a renowned conductor, was a longtime mentor to Salamunovich. He eventually chose Salamunovich to serve as assistant conductor of the Roger Wagner Chorale, as well as for LAMC when Wagner formed the ensemble in 1964. Even as an assistant, Salamunovich was key to developing LAMC’S signature sound. He led nearly all rehearsals for the ensemble, while Wagner stepped in to conduct performances.

After Wagner’s tenure as director of LAMC ended in 1986, he was replaced by Scottish conductor John Currie. Currie conducted the ensemble until 1991, prompting LAMC to name Salamunovich as its Music Director. Salamunovich worked to regain the sound the choir embodied during his first years with the ensemble.

“The foundation is built on the male voices,” Salamunovich said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times in 2000. “I don’t allow the sopranos to override them. I take the growl out of the basses, the ping out of the tenors. It’s a kinder, gentler tone that says ‘I love you.’”

“He created a blended, warm sound that is a very unique in choral music,” explained Lauridsen. “In the music I wrote for Paul, I included the kinds of phrases that he did so well — phrases that were chant derived and with the legato sound that he loved. I designed my music for his expertise and the special sound he got from the choir.”

Lauridsen served as composer-in-residence of LAMC from 1994 until 2001. This significant collaboration between conductor and composer propelled both Lauridsen and LAMC to unexpected success. During this period, LAMC premiered Lauridsen’s “O Magnum Mysterium” — which remains a best-selling choral octavo worldwide — “Lux Aeterna” and “Ave Maria,” in addition to performing several other works by the composer. The choir’s 1998 album of Lauridsen’s works, Lauridsen: Lux Aeterna, garnered the ensemble a Grammy nomination.

“It was a very simpatico relationship,” said Lauridsen. “I wrote music to Paul’s strengths and the very special sound he got from the Master Chorale. We had regular Monday meetings at his home for over five years. I would show him what I was writing, or we would go over other pieces of mine he was conducting. I can’t imagine a better relationship between a composer, a conductor and a group.”

[Vimeo viedo is embedded here on the source page]

According to Lauridsen, Salamunovich treasured the connection he shared with the composer.

“He once said that, to have his name on these scores, was an honor,” Lauridsen shared. “‘Conductors are often forgotten,’ he said, ‘but music of this type lives on and on.’ Paul’s name will live on in so many ways. Not only by my music, but in all the lives he touched.”

From 2007 until 2008, Salamunovich served as an adjunct professor of choral music at the USC Thornton School of Music. During this time, he also conducted the USC Thornton Chamber Singers, the university’s premiere choral ensemble.

“We needed somebody who could help the program transition from one conductor to the next, and Paul was perfect,” said Schiebe. “He brought a different style of music making to the department, and he set up a new paradigm for us as a choral organization.”

One of the highlights of Salamunovich’s tenure at USC Thornton was a performance of Maurice Durufle’s Requiem by both the USC Thornton Symphony and USC Thornton Chamber Choir.

“The students who sang in that performance were deeply affected by it,” Schiebe explained. “If anyone wanted to talk about Durufle’s Requiem, Paul was the person who understood that work far deeper than most. He was the master of that composition.”

Lauridsen, too, acknowledged the impact Salamunovich had upon the USC Thornton students he directed.

“Those students had the benefit of working with an historic individual on this campus,” he said. “Paul was very proud of the year he spent here.”

Services for Paul Salamunovich take place this weekend in Los Angeles. A rosary will be held Friday, May 2 at St. Charles Borromeo Church in North Hollywood beginning at 7:00 p.m., followed by a funeral mass at Blessed Sacrament Church in Hollywood on Saturday, May 3 at 10:00 a.m..

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