While I am not one of your typical fangirls of Whitacre and his rockin' hair, I do like a lot of his music. I wrote a paper MANY years ago on his composition "Sleep" which was originally set to a text by Robert Frost. You can find the story here. I also studied his "Five Hebrew Love Songs" and sang them (originally written for his wife) for my junior recital at DSU. While it wasn't perfect by any means, that recital will always hold a special place in my heart because I performed with two of my dearest friends and colleagues, Corinne Cox Beard (piano) and Katie Wall Syphus (violin).
Here is a video recording of Whitacre's wife, Hila Plitmann, for whom the love songs were written.
(The best part is when she sings a beautiful high C at 6:49.)
I also had the privilege of singing Whitacre's "This Marriage" at the wedding of my dear friend, Sarah Carter Michal... so that was pretty cool.
We discussed how Whitacre has become a sort of gateway drug into the world of choral music for many who would have not otherwise come to enjoy it. And while some feel his music cannot be compared to The Greats (Bach, Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, etc...), he has definitely reached many people through his popular techniques of chord clusters.
In case you didn't already know though, Eric Whitacre first became popular with the instrumental world because if his compositions for wind symphony and orchestra. Some pieces worth listening to are October and Lux Aurumque. He's also written some stuff that is quite... well... different!
Tonight, we went to a concert conducted by Eric Whitacre himself! It was at the Royal Albert Hall, just a twenty minute walk from where we're staying. I headed off on my own so I could enjoy a nice stroll. When I arrived at the corner to turn onto the street where the concert hall was, I had such a lovely view! Here are a few photos:
When I got to the front of the hall, I stumbled upon this gem:
One of the posters on a marquee outside the RAB. Gotta love that smolder!
When I got inside the concert hall, this is what I saw:
Stage
Organ
Ceiling
Panoramic of the audience seating
Closeup of some of the seats
My Ticket
The Program
Alternate Views of the Concert Hall
I really enjoyed this concert for a number of reasons. First being that Whitacre's music was performed by a choir AND an orchestra! I thought the orchestral setting of Water Night was stunning. That's never been my favorite piece because it is sooooo overdone, mostly by high school choirs, and never done well. But the orchestra was so sensitive to Whitacre's gestures, and it was such a touching performance. The next piece, Orawa, was the only piece on the program not written by Whitacre. It was really cool. It definitely added a fun, rhythmic excitement to the concert. It shares some similarities with Smetana's symphonic poems, Moldau. The music tells a story, and it is such a beautiful orchestration of the imagination.
The choir then performed A Boy and a Girl. This has always been one of my favorite Whitacre compositions. His use of silence creates a new contrast in the music that isn't utilized as much as I think it could be elsewhere. I also especially love the poem:
Stretched out on the grass
a boy and a girl.
Savoring their oranges,
giving their kisses like waves exchanging foam.
Stretched out on the beach,
a boy and a girl.
Savoring their limes,
giving their kisses like clouds exchanging foam.
Stretched out underground,
a boy and a girl.
Saying nothing, never kissing,
giving silence for silence.
The choir and orchestra then performed The Five Hebrew Love Songs, which I wrote about earlier in this post. While the choir wasn't particularly good, it was still an enjoyable performance.
And then.... remember when I said Whitacre has written some stuff that is... well... different? The next piece is a perfect example of what I'm talking about. You can listen and read all about it by clicking here. Let's just say that it is definitely different, and what a crowd pleaser!!!
After intermission, the choir performed "Bach Again" which is an arrangement that takes Bach's "Come Sweet Death" and turns it into something a little bit different. I've performed it several times in various choirs, and seen it performed many times as well. It's definitely an acquired taste type of piece. Here is a performance of the piece conducted by Whitacre himself:
After this piece, the orchestra then performed the world premiere of Whitacre's new piece, Bachianus Americanus. The concept was inspired by Villa-Lobos' Bachianas Brasileiras, a look at Bach's music through a Brazilian lens. Whitacre wanted to write something similar, seeing Bach's music through an American lens. So he wrote this piece using the chord changes of Bach's Prelude and Fugue in C Minor. It was pretty cool, although I'm not sure I would have heard Bach in there had I not been told about the piece before hand.
Finally, the last piece of the concert... something that was incredible in many ways! Deep Field, an work written for orchestra, choir, and electronics. It was inspired by the images taken from the Hubble Telescope in 1995. You can read all about it here, and listen and watch it here. The piece is quite long, and begins with orchestra for almost 20 minutes. Then, Whitacre turns around to the audience, directing them to press "PLAY" on an app that they have previously downloaded. This app plays some ethereal, atmospheric music while displaying what we might see while in space. It's hard to explain without actually being there and participating. So if you ever get the chance, take it! This is something that would only work in a generation where handheld devices are everywhere. Whitacre is incredibly smart to utilize this type of medium in a concert. I think it's just another way that his music can be considered a gateway drug. So creative and so moving! Definitely one of the highlights of this trip!
