![]() (Don’t tell them what it is, as it spoils the surprise). Prepare the audience ahead of time, simply letting them know that there will be an element of audience participation towards the end of the piece. The words they are singing and whispering, “la iluvia” (pronounced la YOU-veeah), simply mean ‘the rain’ in Spanish.Īll notes in boxes should be slurred, and played over and over at individual tempos.Īs for the Cloudburst, it is the easiest part of all. All of the singing parts should be divided equally among the players (balancing the clusters as best as possible), and it is essential that the notes be sung in the correct octave. The singing parts look a little daunting, but really it is simply a major chord with half of the singers sliding down a half or a whole step. It is lovingly dedicated to my dear friend and mentor, Dr. Where the choral version is intimate and delicate, the version for winds is strong and assured, and to my ears it sounds like it’s suddenly in technicolor., on a 50 foot screen.Ĭloudburst was premiered on March 16th, 2002, at the Indiana All-State Festival, with yours truly at the helm of that magnificent band. The way this new orchestration has transformed the piece is simply amazing to me: I distinctly remember being at the first rehearsal and just being completely speechless. In the fall of 2001 the Indiana All State commissioned me to write an original work for their top festival band, and I convinced them to let me adapt Cloudburst for symphonic winds. A profoundly moving work for musicians and audience.Ĭloudburst was my second classical work, originally written for chorus in the fall of 1991 it was inspired by an astonishing thunderstorm I witnessed earlier that Spring while on tour in Northern California. Lush and luminescent, Cloudburst combines hand bells, thunder sheets and the audience (snapping their fingers), transforming the entire theater into a magnificent thunderstorm. Under Laytons directorship, Polyphony handles Whitacres 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 UKs leading choirs.£176.00 Composer: Eric Whitacre Category: BIGGIES - Grade 4.5Ĭommissioned for the 2002 Indiana All-State Band, Cloudburst is an adaptation of Whitacre's acclaimed choral work of the same name. And who better to represent an innovative young choral composer than Stephen Layton and Polyphony, award-winning exponents of twentieth-century choral music? Their account of Brittens Sacred and Profane garnered the group a Gramophone Award and a Diapason dOr in 2001, in 2002 a Gramophone Award nomination followed for the choirs Walton CD, and at the 2004 Gramophone Awards Polyphonys recording of works by Arvo Part, Triodion, was voted Best of Category in the Choral division. This is clearly a composer to watch, and if his phenomenal Stateside success is anything to go by, his emergence into the British music scene should be revelatory. Whitacres published works have sold well over 350,000 copies worldwide. ![]() ![]() ![]() 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. ![]() 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. $ Īt 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. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |