Peter Lieberson

Composer Peter Lieberson seems so good-natured, so serenely at peace with himself, it would not be surprising if this tanned meditation enthusiast with the sharp cheekbones and winning smile began to spontaneously levitate as he discusses his latest work. Lieberson, who lives in Santa Fe, N.M., is in town for this weekend's premiere of "Neruda Songs," his setting of five love sonnets by the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda.

"Neruda Songs," a song cycle that Peter Lieberson composed on a commission from the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony, has won the $200,000 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition. The songs are based on five poems by Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. Lieberson wrote them for his wife, mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, who died of cancer in 2006.

"Neruda Songs," a song cycle that Peter Lieberson composed on a commission from the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony, has won the $200,000 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition. The songs are based on five poems by Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. Lieberson wrote them for his wife, mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, who died of cancer in 2006.

HERE we go again. Tonight the Grammys will announce, or at least whisper surreptitiously offstage to a hardly panting press or public, the 2006 classical awards. They won't mean much. The Grammys have long suffered a classical credibility gap. The days of know-nothing voters and the Atlanta Symphony block-voting itself honor after honor are long gone. The Grammys' tiresome fixation with Georg Solti died with the Hungarian conductor's death in 1997.

HERE we go again. Tonight the Grammys will announce, or at least whisper surreptitiously offstage to a hardly panting press or public, the 2006 classical awards. They won't mean much. The Grammys have long suffered a classical credibility gap. The days of know-nothing voters and the Atlanta Symphony block-voting itself honor after honor are long gone. The Grammys' tiresome fixation with Georg Solti died with the Hungarian conductor's death in 1997.

"If your eyes were not the color of the moon," the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda wrote in one of a hundred sonnets to his third wife, Matilde Urrutia, "if you were not that bread the fragrant moon kneads, sprinkling flour across the sky, oh my dearest, I could not love you so!"

"Grace" has several meanings. It can denote the quality of pleasing, a refinement of movement or expression, the conferral of favor on another and, of course, thanks or thanksgiving. In music, we have the grace note, that little dancing embellishment that delays, ever so slightly, the main note and makes its arrival all the more a pleasure.

We don't, in the West, have much experience with kings like Ashoka Maurya. A ferocious warrior in the 3rd century BC, Ashoka conquered all of India. But instead of the usual napoleonic instance of power so terribly corrupting, Ashoka underwent in battle a profound transformation of character. He renounced worldly goods, preached the pacifist teachings of Buddha and turned his attention to developing laws of justice and to building schools, libraries and hospitals for his great kingdom.

"King Gesar" is the first opera in Peter Lieberson's so-called Tibetan Buddhist "Ring" cycle; the second will be "Ashoka's Dream," set to receive its first performances at Santa Fe Opera this summer. "Gesar," a 55-minute instrumental octet with narrator, has been dubbed by its composer a campfire opera, perhaps because it is a series of heroic tales regarding Gesar of Ling, moral fables suitable for outdoor, under-the-stars retelling.

Los Angeles Times/USC poll: An article in Monday's Section A about California voters' opinions on Arizona's anti-illegal immigration law did not fully describe the measure. The article said the law compels police to determine the status of people they suspect are illegal immigrants. The law applies only to people whom police have stopped for another reason. Gustavo Dudamel: An article in Monday's Calendar section about Gustavo Dudamel's first year with the Los Angeles Philharmonic misspelled Peter Lieberson's "Neruda Songs" as "Naruda" Songs.

"Grace" has several meanings. It can denote the quality of pleasing, a refinement of movement or expression, the conferral of favor on another and, of course, thanks or thanksgiving. In music, we have the grace note, that little dancing embellishment that delays, ever so slightly, the main note and makes its arrival all the more a pleasure.

"If your eyes were not the color of the moon," the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda wrote in one of a hundred sonnets to his third wife, Matilde Urrutia, "if you were not that bread the fragrant moon kneads, sprinkling flour across the sky, oh my dearest, I could not love you so!"

Composer Peter Lieberson seems so good-natured, so serenely at peace with himself, it would not be surprising if this tanned meditation enthusiast with the sharp cheekbones and winning smile began to spontaneously levitate as he discusses his latest work. Lieberson, who lives in Santa Fe, N.M., is in town for this weekend's premiere of "Neruda Songs," his setting of five love sonnets by the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda.

We don't, in the West, have much experience with kings like Ashoka Maurya. A ferocious warrior in the 3rd century BC, Ashoka conquered all of India. But instead of the usual napoleonic instance of power so terribly corrupting, Ashoka underwent in battle a profound transformation of character. He renounced worldly goods, preached the pacifist teachings of Buddha and turned his attention to developing laws of justice and to building schools, libraries and hospitals for his great kingdom.

Some good CDs have been selected by the Grammys. Many are by names big in the business and regulars to the Grammy lists. Some are obvious. Sentiment for Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, who died last summer, surely placed her recording of Peter Lieberson's "Rilke Songs," written for the beloved mezzo-soprano by her husband, on the best classical album list. It is also nominated for best vocal performance but not for best contemporary composition, where it certainly belongs.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic has done well with this year's Grammy nominations. Peter Lieberson's "Neruda Songs," which the orchestra premiered and co-commissioned with the Boston Symphony, has garnered nominations for best classical recording, best vocal performance and best contemporary work.