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Eric whitaker cloudburst4/15/2023 At the climax (track 8 from around 6:00) Whitacre deploys piano, wind chimes, thunder sheets and handbells and the singers are also required to clap their hands, click their fingers and slap their thighs. In this piece more vocal effects are used than elsewhere but these add significantly to the range of Whitacre’s palette of colouring. This is the only piece that involves any instrumental accompaniment. Perhaps the most individual piece on the disc is ‘Cloudburst’ itself. Whitacre’s skill in placing and sustaining a climax is evident in several pieces, not least at the heart of ‘Sleep’ where the music is powerful and impressive. Since the composer himself has referred to the three pieces as a cycle I’m a little puzzled as to why they are separated on the disc but listeners can programme their players to hear the settings consecutively. The other two Cummings pieces are equally successful. The rest of the setting lives up to the promise of the opening. Don’t ask me why, since this is an entirely subjective and instinctive opinion, but it seems to me that only an American could have written that phrase. The recital opens with a shrewd choice in the form of a setting of e.e.Cummings’s poem, ‘i thank You God for most this amazing day.’ The effect that Whitacre achieves here is quite splendid, rising from a quiet, simple beginning to a burst of fervent openhearted choral harmonies. It’s firmly rooted in and respectful of the traditions, vocabulary and syntax of Western choral music and none the worse for that. But the music always sounds to me to be expertly crafted and its sincerity and the ease with which Whitacre communicates demand respect. It has to be said that much of the music is slow moving and listeners may not want to hear the whole disc at one setting. By the standards of the last century’s more adventurous choral explorations, it is fundamentally conservative music, with few surprises or innovations harmonically or rhythmically." If the contents of this CD are representative of Whitacre’s output to date then I think that verdict is very fair and accurate. It is very aptly described thus: "Purity, directness of expression, a keen sense of climax and anti-climax, a wide-eyed receptiveness to moments of ecstasy: these are constants and key characteristics in often sublime music. I think it’s worth quoting what Meurig Bowen has to say about Whitacre’s music. I doubt his music is easy to sing but he makes no outlandish demands on his singers and the music unfailingly falls gratefully on the ear and complements very well his chosen texts. The harmonies are often rich and close and to my ears Whitacre has a real feeling for how to write for the human voice. There is some very beautiful music on this CD. ![]() Despite that he was admitted to study music at the University of Las Vegas, whence he proceeded to the Juilliard School of Music in 1995 to study with John Corigliano and David Diamond. ![]() In the very good liner notes accompanying this disc Meurig Bowen reveals that the young Whitacre had "a musical upbringing that matched the lack of focus and patchiness of most of his contemporaries". ![]() I first encountered his work last year when I reviewed a CD of Christmas music that included ‘Lux aurumque’, with which this present CD concludes, I was impressed and intrigued by the piece so I was keen to explore Whitacre’s music further with Polyphony’s help.Įric Whitacre was born in Reno, Nevada. Simply as a point of reference I’d say that anyone who responds positively to Lauridsen’s music should warm equally to Whitacre’s muse. Now they follow that up with a programme of music by another, younger American composer, Eric Whitacre. Last year Stephen Layton and Polyphony gave us a very fine CD devoted to the music of the American composer, Morten Lauridsen (b.1943)
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