Dominick Argento could not be blamed if he chose to retire and rest on his laurels as a venerated American composer. But even at 81, he remains a vital musical force, as demonstrated by his monumental work "Evensong: Of Love and Angels," receiving its Midwest premiere by VocalEssence on Friday.

The work was originally commissioned to celebrate the centennial of the Washington National Cathedral in 2008. But Argento almost gave up composing two years earlier at the passing of his wife, soprano Carolyn Bailey.

"She had a long, painful death," Argento said. "She was weeks in intensive care. I would sit by her bedside for weeks and weeks."

Argento unapologetically celebrated his late wife as his muse. "Early on, I had very little interest in writing for the voice. But I accompanied her in recitals and I learned. Later, when we moved here and I would go off to the University [of Minnesota], she would leave small notes in the margins of my [vocal] manuscripts, like 'too high' or 'where would they breathe?' It was a playful game that became a lesson to me."

During the length of her illness, "I lost interest in composing," he said. "So when the commission came from Washington, I said no." Ironically, as the daughter of a Baltimore minister, Bailey had visited the Washington Cathedral as a child and wanted him to do it. "When you get home, I'll write it," he told her. But she never made it home.

Argento's former student

Philip Brunelle, artistic director of VocalEssence and a former student as well as a decades-long collaborator of Argento's, persuaded him to go on, that that's what she would have wanted. The result is an intensely personal memorial to his wife. "It is hard for me to listen to," Argento said.

"Evensong" is quintessential Argento, simultaneously tonal and serial, rich and austere. "It is such a magnificent, heartfelt piece," Brunelle said, describing a consistent characteristic of Argento's work.

Argento modeled the composition on the liturgical text of the Anglican Evensong service, and added texts from the Psalms and passages from the New Testament. "I wrote half the text myself," he said, including the sermon, an 11-minute aria for soprano, to be sung by longtime collaborator Maria Jette.

"It is beautiful, philosophical prose," Jette said. "It speaks of immortality and of loving and being loved and says that we can assuage the suffering of others 'by showing how boundless is their significance to us.'"

When explaining Argento's artistic longevity, Brunelle says, "The fact is Dominick early on got his priorities straight as a composer. He developed a sure technique. That enabled him to approach many different types of music. That technique doesn't leave him."

And this is not the end. "I stopped taking commissions at 80, but I am going back over stuff, my failures, tidying up the place," Argento said. For example, he is orchestrating a suite of dances from a forgotten opera, "Colonel Jonathan the Saint." "I don't have the energy for opera anymore, but I'm keeping myself wide open."

William Randall Beard writes regularly about music.