Eric Whitacre (21st Cent. composing GENIUS!)

[IvoryKeys]

Ok, this will be for the classical lovers out there. But this music can be loved by anyone from classical lovers to New Age lovers. The music he creates is so fantastic and has literally taken choir music to a whole new level!!!! Eric Whitacre is still a new composer. He's somewhere around his 30's and that is very young for some composers. But his music is gaining such popularity from many high school and college university choirs.

Take a listen to some of these YouTube clips, but let me tell you that they don't do justice to the song at all! If you can, go look up Eric Whitacre on iTunes and find the CD "Cloudburst", it will blow you away.

One thing that automatically comes to mind when I hear the choirs, I think of what Heaven will be like. The human voice is the most organic instrument. If you ever wanted to know what the angels sounded like when they found the shepherds in the fields the night of Jesus' birth, THIS is what it sounds like! I can almost bet that this is what heaven would sound like, only better!! IMO at least


This Marriage - Eric Whitacre

May these vows and this marriage be blessed.
May it be sweet milk,
this marriage, like wine and halvah.
May this marriage offer fruit and shade
like the date palm.

May this marriage be full of laughter,
our every day a day in paradise.
May this marriage be a sign of compassion,
a seal of happiness here and hereafter.

May this marriage have a fair face and a good name,
an omen as welcomes the moon in a clear blue sky.

I am out of words to describe
how spirit mingles in this marriage.


Sleep - Eric Whitacre

The evening hangs beneath the moon
A silver thread on darkened dune
With closing eyes and resting head
I know that sleep is coming soon

Upon my pillow, safe in bed
A thousand pictures fill my head
I cannot sleep my minds a flight
And yet my limbs seem made of lead

If there are noises in the night
A frighting shadow, flickering light
Then I surrender unto sleep

Where clouds of dreams give second sight

What dreams may come both dark and deep

Of flying wings and soaring leap

As I surrender unto sleep
As I surrender unto sleep


A Boy and A Girl - Eric Whitare (Turn up your volume to hear this one....kinda soft..sorry)


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.


Other songs to seriously consider
Lux Aurumque
Water Night
Hope, Faith, Life, Love
Cloudburst
When David Heard (12:57min song, but soooo worth it. He really puts David's emotion into the piece. You can really hear God speaking to him. Scary stuff really!)



Hope you like him!

 

[arXter]

that's some great music, i've never come across his name before. seems his magic tool in all of these is great use of dissonance. those choir groups sound awesome as well.

 

[eighthnoterojo]

Hi IvoryKeys.

I've never heard of him either.

Nice listening; easy on the ears. Plenty of reverb; probably recorded in a church?

Reminds me somewhat of Arvo Pärt, the Estonian composer.

Didn't hear much dissonance in the first one at all, the second one had more and that last one sounds like a heap of sixth chords, suspensions, parallel intervals and tons of prominent Major seconds. Still didn't sound all that dissonant to me though. But then dissonance is in the ear of the beholder. lol

New harmonics? What do you mean by that, IvoryKeys?

Debussy is the composer of my fav all time piece of music, La Mer. And although this piece employs rich harmonies, it doesn't sound all that much like Debussy to me. Maybe a bit. I think it's because the chords here are all solid, and not broken; no runs and flourishes of chords like Debussy uses?

Thanks for sharing.

 

[arXter]

well then it may all fit together

maybe "new harmonics" = dissonant harmonics lol

and Debussy link -> champion of dissonance

*wants to be right*

actually i don't hear much resemblance to Debussy either, in terms of substantial influence - speaking from hearing the above three works. as for dissonance, its degrees are definitely subjective, i agree with you there. but i heard diatonic qualities a la Stravinsky. (the first piece has bass-laden dissonance)

speaking of dissonance, i feel it gets little love. i realised a couple of years back that nearly all of my favourite composers/producers (even in hip-hop, see the genius that is J Dilla) use dissonant patterns over harmonious congruence. just... heaven.

needs to be done more in Pop music. the same ish's getting boring..

 

[eighthnoterojo]

Funny; I have the tv on (ArtsTV, a Canadian cable station) and Debussy's La Cathédrale Engloutie just came on. It uses solid chords and parallel intervals (Fourths.) Forgot about that. Oh well. lol But then that doesn't sound much like this either...

Indeed, Debussy's music was dissonant, for it's time...

Ever read this wiki page? I love the subject of dissonance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_of_the_dissonance

Not sure I follow you about the 'diatonic qualities' of Stravinsky.

Now Rzewski's Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues; that's got some 'fresher' dissonance in it... :clapping:

About Pärt; not one of my all time fav composers, but nice, listenable stuff.

I'll see if I can find some stuff to post tomorrow; I gotta go to bed now. lol

 

[arXter]

sounds really interesting, haven't come across it. will read it fully after i get my sleep too lol

as for Stravinsky, it's just as i described my love for dissonance above; using tonal clarity alongside dissonant moments (in this and Stravinsky's case diatonic cluster writing). that's how i perceived Whitacre's pieces. and like that wiki article mentions tone-cluster harmonies, that's exactly what's happening with his work.

but then again, it also says this about them:

"Some argue further that they are not dissonances, but consonances higher up the harmonic series and thus more complex."

​

but what do they know

j/k this shows a point - how does one perceive the difference between cons/diss? i think it really is very subjective to an individual and, as you rightly said re: Debussy, to its time. so it's really relative and they're both intricately connected.

and as for Rzewski i completely agree with you there, quaver. and had him in mind when i mentioned it before ("atonal harmony"

). love that piece and completely dig his work. maybe it's about time this be perceived as consonant? lol but it's not - testament to our slow evolution in music, perhaps? am i making sense? :/

 

[wendijane]

nice pieces
more than nice
thanx you for posting babes :flowers:

 

[andythemisfit]

Beautiful music (and videos)! :cloud9:

 

[eighthnoterojo]

sounds really interesting, haven't come across it. will read it fully after i get my sleep too lol

as for Stravinsky, it's just as i described my love for dissonance above; using tonal clarity alongside dissonant moments (in this and Stravinsky's case diatonic cluster writing). that's how i perceived Whitacre's pieces. and like that wiki article mentions tone-cluster harmonies, that's exactly what's happening with his work.

but then again, it also says this about them:

"Some argue further that they are not dissonances, but consonances higher up the harmonic series and thus more complex."

​

but what do they know

j/k this shows a point - how does one perceive the difference between cons/diss? i think it really is very subjective to an individual and, as you rightly said re: Debussy, to its time. so it's really relative and they're both intricately connected.

and as for Rzewski i completely agree with you there, quaver. and had him in mind when i mentioned it before ("atonal harmony"

). love that piece and completely dig his work. maybe it's about time this be perceived as consonant? lol but it's not - testament to our slow evolution in music, perhaps? am i making sense? :/

Yep.

Every composer uses a particular musical 'vocabulary.' Sometimes composers have a very similar vocabulary, through mutual influence. Some composers create a new vocabulary. And this vocabulary can define a musical era.

Dissonance is a difficult word to define, because as you say, it changes over time.

Sometimes I'll like a piece that sounds mostly dissonant, sometimes I won't. Depends entirely on the piece, and what (I feel) the composer is conveying. It has to have some meaning for me in the context of the piece.

As to you making sense, well, pretty much, imo.

Quaver.

If I get a chance, I'll start another thread on the topic, with examples... but I don't think people will like it. Hell, nobody even responded to the Ravel piece I posted in the classical music thread. lol

 

[IvoryKeys]

Thanks for all the coments. I am really glad you like his stuff. And yeah, when i said "new harmonies" I did kind of mean dissonance, but when some of you mentioned that their truly isn't much in there....yeah, for some reason I just realized that.

This Marriage is not a good example of dissonance, I guess, but oh well.

As much as I love the Theory aspect of all music.......it is still very difficult for me to understand it.

And I think i made the connection to Debussy because I just liked the music as much as I did his. Your right in saying there really is no direct correlation to their music.


Again, I am glad you like him.

 

[Cinnamon234]

Never heard of him, but I liked what I heard! Great stuff

Thx for posting :flowers:

 

[IvoryKeys]

bump it up.


for today...