... 1 Posted August 30, 2018 Share Posted August 30, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post karelm 2,913 Posted August 30, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted August 30, 2018 He is popular here I think. I've met him a couple of times and found him to be charming and giddy. For example, he was sitting next to Morton Subotnick and was star struck at Morton. After Subotnick was talking about his latest electro-acoustic work, Eric excitedly said: "I just can't believe I'm here next to Morton Subotnick...this is so freaking cool!" which made everyone laugh as he momentarily broke the fourth wall. Basically, he is funny and likeable and I think his music is only getting better. He does make a point that music came late to him (he never had a music lesson until choir class in high school and that was mostly to meet girls but the musical bug hit him hard and a few years later he was pursuing it at Juilliard having to catch up to the prodigies. He's introducing a lot of kids to great music. Teenagers freaking love him and love performing his choral works which can't be all bad to have happen. He has a wonderful way with audiences because he is first of all very presentable (looks more like a movie star than a concert composer), very articulate, deeply passionate about his work (it isn't just a show, it's real), self deprecating which I think most including myself find endearing. I think when I first met him, he was part of that Subotnick panel and everyone else looked like school teachers/professors. He, on the other hand, had ripped jeans and long hair if I remember correctly and sat like a lead singer of a rock band. He really stood out from the group but was their peer and owned his individuality. For example, some cynics might hate how he mixes the cell phone into Deep Field, but he does it in a way that makes the audience part of the experience of the performance. In the youtube Proms clip he jokes about how many cell phones go off normally during Proms performances but here they must wait for his cue. I can just imagine how everyone was patiently just watching him to not screw up. This audio affect could have been 100% achieved without audience but he decided to make everyone part of the experience of the performance in a very simple way and that actually takes a degree of brilliance. All composers need to somehow engage and interact with the audience and he does it better than almost anyone. He is also a shrewd marketer and self-promoter, a skill extremely rare with composers and very much necessary. I admire him quite a bit both artistically and professionally. Jurassic Shark, SteveMc, Dixon Hill and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon Hill 4,234 Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 Well said karelm. I'm a fan and know many people deeply touched by his music. Yes, he is a favorite target for the more cynical and pretentious in the classical world, but he is an earnestly passionate guy beyond any legitimate personal criticism and whatever you think of his music, you can't deny that he's doing a lot to bring young people into the fold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omen II 1,235 Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 21 hours ago, karelm said: In the youtube Proms clip he jokes about how many cell phones go off normally during Proms performances but here they must wait for his cue. I can just imagine how everyone was patiently just watching him to not screw up. I was at that concert @karelm and in fact it was my first taste of Eric Whitacre's music. I had downloaded the Deep Field app beforehand and you are so right about patiently watching him and hoping he would make it obvious when to come in! It was a truly magical experience as the lights in the hall had been dimmed and the choir filled the aisles all around the auditorium. Since that concert I have seen Eric Whitacre three more times in London, once again at the Royal Albert Hall (again with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra), once at Milton Court with the BBC Singers and most recently at St. James's in Piccadilly with the Eric Whitacre Singers. He comes across as a genuinely nice person and always seems more than happy to promote the works of other composers alongside his own, the likes of John Powell and Laura Mvula among them. I was very taken with his I Fall, part of a larger work written for the death of a dear friend, and hope that it is recorded soon. One of my favourite pieces of his is Goodnight Moon. Who would have thought that a woman singing the words of a children's bedtime story book could be so moving? This recording features the LSO and Eric Whitacre's lovely wife, Hila Plitmann. SteveMc 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karelm 2,913 Posted August 31, 2018 Share Posted August 31, 2018 2 hours ago, Omen II said: I was at that concert @karelm and in fact it was my first taste of Eric Whitacre's music. I had downloaded the Deep Field app beforehand and you are so right about patiently watching him and hoping he would make it obvious when to come in! It was a truly magical experience as the lights in the hall had been dimmed and the choir filled the aisles all around the auditorium. Since that concert I have seen Eric Whitacre three more times in London, once again at the Royal Albert Hall (again with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra), once at Milton Court with the BBC Singers and most recently at St. James's in Piccadilly with the Eric Whitacre Singers. He comes across as a genuinely nice person and always seems more than happy to promote the works of other composers alongside his own, the likes of John Powell and Laura Mvula among them. I was very taken with his I Fall, part of a larger work written for the death of a dear friend, and hope that it is recorded soon. One of my favourite pieces of his is Goodnight Moon. Who would have thought that a woman singing the words of a children's bedtime story book could be so moving? This recording features the LSO and Eric Whitacre's lovely wife, Hila Plitmann. My god, what a voice. That is a beautiful work, thanks for posting. SteveMc 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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Omen II 1,235 Posted May 24, 2019 Share Posted May 24, 2019 You might enjoy this performance of Eric Whitacre's Sleep by the vocal ensemble VOCES8, recorded at St. Stephen Walbrook in the City of London. Lovely stuff. In other Whitacre news, his new work The Sacred Veil will receive its UK premiere in October this year (I believe there will be two concerts at St. John's Smith Square). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faleel 5,348 Posted August 2, 2019 Share Posted August 2, 2019 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,495 Posted August 2, 2019 Share Posted August 2, 2019 I’m not super into his music, choral music just isn’t my favorite in general, but he’s clearly a talented and sincere composer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omen II 1,235 Posted October 26, 2019 Share Posted October 26, 2019 I went to the European premiere of Whitacre's The Sacred Veil at St. John's Smith Square in Westminster last night. It was a very moving experience, especially for anyone who has lost someone close to them. The piece tells the story of the courtship, love, loss and search for solace of Charles Anthony Silvestri (Whitacre's best friend and writer of the words to many of his works, e.g. Sleep) following the death of his wife Julie from ovarian cancer in 2005. The work is in twelve movements as follows: The Veil Opens In a Dark and Distant Year Home Magnetic Poetry Whenever There Is Birth I'm Afraid I Am Here Delicious Times One Last Breath Dear Friends You Rise, I fall Child of Wonder Such a premise runs the risk of bathos or coming across as quite maudlin (dare I say especially for a stiff-upper-lip British audience), but it really was outstanding in both the words and the music. Some of the words were taken from Julia Silvestri's own diary entries and e-mails (Dear Friends in particular I found heartbreaking). The words were projected on a screen behind the choir which was a neat idea, as it allowed the audience to pay full attention to the choir and musicians (pianist Christopher Glynn and cellist Jeffrey Zeigler) instead of following the words in the programme. When it finished a couple of the choir members were wiping tears from their eyes. If you get the chance to see this piece performed, I heartily recommend it. It will be recorded for release next year on Signum Records. karelm 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omen II 1,235 Posted October 27, 2019 Share Posted October 27, 2019 Here is a rehearsal video of the ninth movement One Last Breath: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSH 968 Posted October 27, 2019 Share Posted October 27, 2019 On 8/31/2018 at 10:13 PM, Omen II said: Wow, that is incredibly sweet. Reminds me of a song you'd hear in a late 80s / early 90s animated children's film. Beautiful string arrangement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KK 3,307 Posted September 3, 2020 Share Posted September 3, 2020 It's a pity @Dixon Hill is not around so much these days, because I think I'm finally starting to come around to Whitacre: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,363 Posted September 3, 2020 Share Posted September 3, 2020 Ha! The starter of this thread is another dude who manually wiped out all his posts one by one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omen II 1,235 Posted September 3, 2020 Share Posted September 3, 2020 Eric Whitacre's The Sacred Veil was released last week and most of the selections can be sampled on YouTube. See my post earlier in the thread for more details about the piece. This is the first of the twelve movements, entitled The Veil Opens. He also wrote a piece called Sing Gently for a virtual choir to sing during lockdown. More than 17,000 people from 129 different countries contributed and it's really quite moving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,495 Posted September 3, 2020 Share Posted September 3, 2020 Not my cuppa tea. I would say Caroline Shaw is a contemporary composer whose work for choir is of a much more interesting personality, though @KK will probably still think me a wannabe Brooklyn hipster KK 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurassic Shark 12,075 Posted September 3, 2020 Share Posted September 3, 2020 I've got Whitacre's famous Hyperion album, but it didn't win me over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kühni 485 Posted September 3, 2020 Share Posted September 3, 2020 18 hours ago, KK said: It's a pity @Dixon Hill is not around so much these days, because I think I'm finally starting to come around to Whitacre: I tried singing along with this, but these sustained dissonances and arrhythmic (?) patterns are challenging! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KK 3,307 Posted September 4, 2020 Share Posted September 4, 2020 6 hours ago, Disco Stu said: Not my cuppa tea. I would say Caroline Shaw is a contemporary composer whose work for choir is of a much more interesting personality, though @KK will probably still think me a wannabe Brooklyn hipster Haha. Well, I've historically not been a big Whitacre fan (as my past posts here will testify), but he does have some real inspired moments. Lately, I've just been admiring his musicianship and how he works with others in the industry. I think he's a very articulate and an inspiring crossover figure between the larger public and the classical world, in the same spirit of Carl Sagan and Neil deGrass Tyson types. I also really like Shaw, though she also has a certain bag of tricks, especially in her string writing, that sometimes wears me out. Disco Stu 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,495 Posted September 4, 2020 Share Posted September 4, 2020 16 minutes ago, KK said: I've historically not been a big Whitacre fan (as my past posts here will testify), but he does have some real inspired moments. Lately, I've just been admiring his musicianship and the and how he works with others in the industry. I think he's a very articulate and an inspiring crossover figure between the larger public and the classical world, in the same spirit of Carl Sagan and Neil deGrass Tyson types. I also really like Shaw, though she also has a certain bag of tricks, especially in her string writing, that sometimes wears me out. And I think I prefer the Brooklyn you over the version of you in my head, where you live on a Minnesota farm :p Oh yeah I do like Eric Whitacre the person! Very cool and interesting dude. Both Shaw and Whitacre stand out in their generation of “serious” composers for being unabashedly emotional in their writing I think. Not Mr. Big 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KK 3,307 Posted September 4, 2020 Share Posted September 4, 2020 Yea, definitely. And I'm glad they've found as much success as they did. Goes to show how starved people still are for tonal music, even in this post-post-modernist world (whatever that means). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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