Eric Whitacre
An accomplished composer, conductor and lecturer, Eric Whitacre has quickly become one of the most popular and performed composers of his generation. Many of Whitacre's works have entered the standard choral and symphonic repertories and have become the subject of several recent scholarly works and doctoral dissertations. As a conductor, Whitacre has appeared with hundreds of professional and educational ensembles throughout the world. In the last ten years, he has conducted concerts of his choral and symphonic music in Japan, Australia, China, Singapore and much of Europe, as well as dozens of American universities and colleges where he regularly conducts seminars and lectures with young musicians. Most recently, Whitacre has received acclaim for "Paradise Lost", a cutting edge musical combining trance, ambient and techno electronica with choral, cinematic,and operatic traditions. Winner of the ASCAP Harold Arlen award, this musical also gained Whitacre the prestigious Richard Rodgers Award for most promising musical theater composer. Whitacre earned a Master of Music degree at the Juilliard School, studying with Pulitzer Prize-and Oscar-winning composer John Corigliano. He has received composition awards from the Barlow International Composition Competition, the American Choral Directors Association and the American Composers Forum. The first recording of his music was hailed by The American Record Guide as one of the top ten classical albums of 1997. In 2001,he became the youngest recipient ever awarded the coveted Raymond C. Brock commission by the American Choral Directors Association.
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I Thank You god For Most This Amazing Day I Hide Myself Sleep I Will Wade Out Go, Lovely Rose When David Heard Hope, Faith, Life, Love Cloudburst With A Lily in Your Hand This Marriage Water Night A Boy And a Girl Her Sacred Spirit Soars Lux Aurumque |
At the age of only 35, Eric Whitacre has already gained a reputation in the United States that many composers strive for a lifetime to achieve. The American Record Guide named his first recording one of the top ten classical albums in 1997, and the Los Angeles Times described his music as having ‘electric, chilling harmonies; works of unearthly beauty and imagination’. His Water Night (included on this new recording) has become one of the most popular choral works of the last decade, and is one of the top-selling choral publications of all time. Whitacre’s published works have sold well over 350,000 copies worldwide. And who better to represent an innovative young choral composer than Stephen Layton and Polyphony, award-winning exponents of twentieth-century choral music? Under Layton’s directorship, Polyphony handles Whitacre’s evocative and soulful music with consummate artistry; from the quiet intensity of Sleep to the breathtaking exuberance of With a lily in your hand, by way of the tender innocence of This Marriage (one of three premiere recordings on the disc), this new recording is a stunning showcase both for an up-and-coming young composer and also for the awesome talents of one of the UK’s leading choirs.
Listen to With A Lily in Your Hand in Real Audio
| 7969 CD $18.98 |
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Water Night Three Songs of Faith: - I Will Wade Out - Hope, Faith, Life, Love - I Thank You God for Most This Amazing Day Cloudburst Sleep Three Flower Songs: - I Hide Myself - With A Lily in Your Hand - Go, Lovely Rose When David Heard Lux aurumque Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine |
A big seller at the recent ACDA Convention in New York City, "Eric Whitacre" is a stunning collection of songs composed in the classical style of Monteverdi, Debussy and Prokofiev, but with inspiration from such groups as the Beatles, Sting, Queen, Madonna and Peter Gabriel. His choice of texts also reflects a broad range of poets - Octavio Paz, Ogden Nash, James Joyce, e.e. cummings and Emily Dickenson, religious poets being conspicuous in their absence, although "three songs of faith" are included here. The mixed-voice Brigham Young U. Singers do justice to Whitacre's difficult, eclectic, wonderful, soaring compositions. 12 songs, "Water Night," the three songs of faith: "I Will Wade Out," "Hope, Faith, Life, Love," "I Thank You God for most this Amazing Day," "Cloudburst", "Sleep," "I Hide Myself," "With a Lily in Your Hand," "Go Lovely Rose," "When David Heard," "Lux aurumque" and "Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine." "Beautiful" is an inadequate word to describe Whitacre's work and the BYU Singers' interpretation of it. "Amazing" works much better! Recommended.
| 6844 CD $15.98 |
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Ghost Train Trilogy - Rutgers Wind Ensemble GawdSilla Eats Las Vegas! Rak HaHatchala Little Tree - University of Miami Chorale Water Night - BYU Singers Cloudburst - BYU Singers |
This CD begins with a 3-part, eclectic, dramatic, rich-in-special-effects all-instrumental piece by Eric Whitacre, the "Ghost Train Trilogy," about a supernatural machine that roars through the western US, played by the Rutgers Wind Ensemble. Following that is "GAWD$ILLA EATS LAS VEGAS," a piece Whitacre wanted to write that was "really out there," that includes amazing, all-instrumental dramatic West Side Story and Gershwin samples. A sweet piece by the Rutgers Wind Ensemble follows, "Rak Hahatchala," featuring soprano Hila Plitmann. Then we have the University of Miami Chorale perform Whitacre's beautiful "little tree," (accompanied) with text by e.e. cummings, and two lovely Whitacre pieces by the BYU Singers, "Water Night" and "Cloudburst," both with text by Octavio Paz. These last two a cappella pieces are difficult, eclectic, soaring and lovely. Eric Whitacre is a surprising composer who takes many chances in his work, which is why listening to "The Music of Eric Whitacre" never fails to delight and challenge us.
| 7791 CD $15.98 |
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Five Hebrew Love Songs (with string quartet) (Eric Whitacre) Cloudburst (with piano and percussion) (Eric Whitacre) I thank You God for most this amazing day (Eric Whitacre) She Weeps Over Rahoon (with piano and English horn) (Eric Whitacre) Little Birds (with piano) (Eric Whitacre) Water Night (Eric Whitacre) Sleep (Eric Whitacre) Agnus Dei (Edward Elgar / David Giardiniere) Hymn to the Mother of God (John Tavener) There will be rest (Frank Ticheli) Ave Maria (Giancarol Aquilanti) Tonight eternity alone (Rene Clausen) O magnum mysterium (Morten Lauridsen) |
Founded in 1996, the 40-strong, mixed-voice Choral Project, ably led by Artistic Director and Conductor Daniel Hughes, has performed throughout California in concerts, interfaith services and choral festivals, as well as nationally and internationally in Costa Rica and Mexico. Included here are seven selections by master composer Eric Whitacre, "Five Hebrew Love Songs," "Cloudburst," "I thank you God for most this amazing day," "She Weeps Over Rahoon," "Little Birds," "Water Night" and "Sleep." Then we have "Agnus Dei" by Edward Elgar/David Giardiniere, Tavener's "Hymn to the Mother of God," Ticheli's "There will be rest," "Ave Maria" by Giancarlo Aquilanti, Rene Clausen's "Tonight Eternity Alone" and Lauridsen's "O magnum mysterium." Some light accompaniment with strings, piano and percussion. Difficult, intricate harmonies, effortlessly performed by this talented ensemble.
| 7091 CD $15.98 |
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Cloudburst (SSAATTBB + Piano/Percussion) |
The powerful fusion of Octavio Paz's Spanish text and Eric Whitacre's musical imagery has made 'Cloudburst a favorite with good high school choirs and beyond in the U.S. and abroad. Of timeless beauty, 'Waternight' speaks to singers and audiences of all generations, offering a high point in any concert program. A Boy and a Girl is a tender, delicate poem put to music by Eric Whitacre. It was commissioned by the 2002 California All-State Chorus. 'When David Heard' uses the text of David, lamenting the slaying of his son Absalom (II Samuel 18:33). It is a major work, with great dramatic moments describing the feeling of a father's loss.
| 9053 SHEET MUSIC $8.55 |
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i thank you god for this most amazing day (SSSAATTTBB) |
'i will wade out' the first piece in the set, cries out with lush, neo-romantic harmonies. In 'hope, faith, love, life' each word is repeated as a musical meditation, quoting different works from Whitacre's choral library.' I 'i thank you God, for this most amazing day,' the shimmering quality of the chords help to convey the Whitacre's feeling of the text used in the poem. All three pieces are based on the poems by e.e. cummings, and are part of Eric Whitacre's series, titled 'Three Songs of Faith.'
| 9054 SHEET MUSIC $5.85 |
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Sleep (SSAATTBB) |
'Sleep' is the collaboration between Eric Whitacre and poet Charles Anthony Silvestri, drawing on the mystical moment between awareness and sleep. For the setting of Lux Aurumque, Whitacre chose the Latin translation of an Edward Esch poem, enhancing the elegant simplicity of this new work. The text explores Leonardo da Vinci's dreams of flying. The blend of Italian madrigal and contemporary style supports the text, once again, by Charles Anthony Silvestri.
| 9056 SHEET MUSIC $5.85 |
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This Marriage (a cappella) |