A few months ago the classical music world mourned the death of Lorraine Hunt Lieberson at the age of only 52. Hers was a voice and a presence of surpassing artistry and integrity.

A new CD will be released in a few weeks, "Neruda Songs," composed by her husband, Peter Lieberson, to texts of the Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda.

Of her singing of the songs, the Boston Globe's music critic, Jeremy Eichler, writes:

the album feels less like a typical new music disc than a bravely offered glimpse into a private world, less a performance than a disarming invitation to share a secret. It is easily the most memorable release of the year...Lieberson sings with unextinguishable radiance.

At a memorial service held in Emmanuel Church here in Boston a few weeks ago a recording of her singing a Bach aria was played at the end of the service. Eichler comments:

The verses she sang contained the words, "How fearfully my steps wander, yet Jesus listens to my pleas and shows me to his Father." When the recording stopped, the hall was filled not with applause but with deep silence. Then the musicians slowly filed out.