Product Description

At the age of only 35, Eric Whitacre has already gained a phenomenal reputation in the United States. The Los Angeles Times described his music as having ‘electric, chilling harmonies; works of unearthly beauty and imagination’ and 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.

Track Listing

1. i thank You God for most this amazing day (1999, TEXT: e.e. cummings)
2. I hide myself (1991, TEXT: Emily Dickinson)
3. Sleep (2000, TEXT: Charles Anthony Silvestri)
4. Go, lovely Rose (1991, TEXT: Edmund Waller)
5. When David Heard (1999, TEXT: II Samuel 18:33)
6. hope, faith, life, love (1999, TEXT: e.e. cummings)
7. Cloudburst (1993, TEXT: Octavio Paz)
8. With a lily in your hand (1991, TEXT: Federico Garcia Lorca
9. This Marriage (2004, TEXT: Jalal al-Din Rumi)
10. Water Night (1995, TEXT: Octavio Paz)
11. A Boy and a Girl (2002, TEXT: Octavio Paz)
12. Her sacred spirit soars (2002, TEXT: Charles Anthony Silvestri)
13. Lux aurumque (2000, TEXT: Edward Esch/Charles Anthony Silvestri)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19977 in Music
• Released on: 2006-02-14
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Import

Amazon.com
Eric Whitacre is one of the leading lights of the choral music scene. The 14 text-centered, emotionally-charged works on this well-filled disc suggest why. Outwardly conservative, his music is full of fascinating harmonic explorations, dynamic shifts, and rhythmic nuances that make them fun to sing and absorbing to listen to. The texts are drawn from poets of the stature of e.e. cummings, Octavio Paz, Garcia Lorca, and Emily Dickinson, among others. And they pack emotional power, as in When David Heard, whose Biblical text is illuminated by powerful tiered dynamics. He’s adept at tonal contrasts as well, the soaring sopranos in Sleep have their counterparts in a firm bass line. In Cloudburst he adds piano and percussion to the unaccompanied chorus to dramatic effect, and in some works, such as Cummings' "hope, faith, life, love" he chooses to set only a handful of the poem's text, with harmonic movements and other unexpected twists focusing attention. The fine English chorus, Polyphony, is at their best here, clearly relishing the inventiveness of the music, and the sound is from Hyperion's top drawer. --Dan Davis

Amazon.com
Eric Whitacre is one of the leading lights of the choral music scene. The 14 text-centered, emotionally-charged works on this well-filled disc suggest why. Outwardly conservative, his music is full of fascinating harmonic explorations, dynamic shifts, and rhythmic nuances that make them fun to sing and absorbing to listen to. The texts are drawn from poets of the stature of e.e. cummings, Octavio Paz, Garcia Lorca, and Emily Dickinson, among others. And they pack emotional power, as in When David Heard, whose Biblical text is illuminated by powerful tiered dynamics. He’s adept at tonal contrasts as well, the soaring sopranos in Sleep have their counterparts in a firm bass line. In Cloudburst he adds piano and percussion to the unaccompanied chorus to dramatic effect, and in some works, such as Cummings' "hope, faith, life, love" he chooses to set only a handful of the poem's text, with harmonic movements and other unexpected twists focusing attention. The fine English chorus, Polyphony, is at their best here, clearly relishing the inventiveness of the music, and the sound is from Hyperion's top drawer. --Dan Davis

Customer Reviews

Glory all around
What a gorgeous recording this is! The beauty of this music is absolutely stunning, like hearing music for the first time. It's really hard to believe that Whitacre is only 35--the degree of spirituality and depth of feeling here seems the product of a lifetime. And unlike many choral composers, he is not a one-trick pony. Every aspect of every composition is distinctive, even as it is always recognizable as his. And like Arvo Part, you get the overwhelming sense that every note is heartfelt, never calculated, though Whitacre's aesthetic is warmer and less austere than Part's ("Sunburst" would have been a more apt title for the CD). I am also reminded in some ways of the Bulgarian women's choirs: Bulgarian music is full of extreme dissonance, but somehow they make it seem chipper--in the same way Russian composers make minor keys sound happy. Whitacre also has that gift, but in a more profound direction. Whitacre makes dissonance sound ravishingly radiant. And that, to me, is what makes this such a compelling disc. There are composers of choral music who make very beautiful sounds, but it's all consonant and so a bit predictable. It doesn't make me want to listen again and again because I know exactly where it's heading. Whitacre uses a range of tools, both sublimely harmonic and freshly conceived. And when he uses dissonance he does not use it in the usual way, as a passing tone to set up harmonic resolution in the next breath. Instead, his dissonance stands on its own and is gorgeous in its own right--though how he does this is a mystery. And that, I think, is the key to why I want to listen to this CD again and again: it cannot be fully predicted, resolved, or explained neatly--like nature, like beauty itself.

Encore!
Truly a masterpiece for choir! I am a choral amateur listener, as I just got into it: this is my first choral cd, but I must tell you that it was worth much more than I payed. A beautiful collection of songs by the very talented Eric Whitacre: his harmonies and suspensions will make you fall in love with the music.

Eric Whitacre Cloudburst - a wonderful presentation of his music
I first heard a Whitacre piece on public radio and had to look him up. His Cloudburst collection is wonderful. Straight tone choral with amazing moving harmonies and dynamics.