Laurence Feininger

The author retraces the biography of Laurence Feininger, who lived almost continuously in Trent between 1938 and 1976, the year of his premature death. Laurence, the second son of Lyonel and Julia Berg-Lilienfeld, grew up in Berlin and Weimar. Unlike his brothers Andreas and Lux, who were oriented towards photography, design, and painting, he followed his own personal musical path. When Germany embarked on the path of National Socialism, Laurence was shaken by inner turmoil that translated into radical challenges: research into “ancient” music, his conversion and then ordination to the priesthood, and the task of transcribing and editing polyphonic sources from the 15th century. This was followed by the discovery of 17th-century Roman polyphony, the creation of a choir to restore its beauty, and, last but not least, the collection of “Gregorian” sources broken up after the liturgical reform decreed by the Second Vatican Council. This was Don Lorenzo’s life journey, constantly aimed at the search for the sublime as an instrument with which to educate a new humanity.