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Background
Very little formal training before
joining his university choir at 18
Attended University of Nevada,
Las Vegas
Changing moment: Mozart’s
Requiem
Presented at 1992 ACDA
conference
Became a set of three
“Flower Songs”
Went on to study with
John Corigliano at Julliard John Corigliano
Music
Contemporary harmonies
“Whitacre chords”
Complex meter changes,
rhythms
Hand actions; props
“Cloudburst”
Notable Awards
2012 Grammy
ASCAP Harold Arlen Award
Richard Rogers Award
ACDA
America Composers Forum
Projects
Virtual Choir
Virtual Choir 3 currently scheduled to launch in April 2012
http://ericwhitacre.com/the-virtual-choir
Cloudburst
Created in spring 1992
Spontaneous process
Albums:
“Cloudburst and other Choral Works”
“Eric Whitacre: The Complete A Capella Works, 1991-
2001”
“Water & Light”
0:00 Simple, major chord
Aleatoric section begins
Eight note motif
0:56 Bass solo
Dissonant harmonies
Smooth, legato phrasing
1:46 Female parts: round figure
Return to “la lluvia”
2:29 Sopranos: aleatoric section
Spoken lines
Lines repeated by lower parts; chant-like
3:45 8 part split, beginning with bottom voice,
and moving upwards
Repetitions grow in intensity; climax at
“Sangre…”
Soprano solo, whispered “la lluvia”
5:32 Beginning of Cloudburst section
Percussion starts
Voices join one part at a time; growing
chord cluster
6:21 Beginning of the storm
Singers clapping, snapping, and patting
legs to imitate rain
6:55 Climax: powerful, fortissimo major chord
Eight note motif
Drastic decrescendo
7:15 “La lluvia” repeated four times
Percussion swells
Ending chord: lack of resolution
She Weeps over Rahoon
Commissioned in 1993
Trial and error process
Albums:
“Brigham Young University Choirs and Eric Whitacre 2”
“Water & Light”
0:00 Duple/compound meter
SSA
Introduction: Piano and French Horn.
0:24 Section A: Round figure between parts
Painting the picture of a steady, drizzling
rain
0:47 French Horn: counter melody
1:30 Interlude: French Horn and Piano
Steady, unwavering tempo, triplet figures
1:47 Section B: Half singing, half whispering the
text
2:32 Climax: major chord
Sopranos at upper part of their range
Accompaniment: ascending chords
3:04 Interlude/solo for piano and French Horn
Freer tempo taken
3:43 Coda: Voices ending on chord cluster in
low register
Dissonant last chord
Word painting on “muttering rain”
Accompaniment ends with same melody
from introduction
Bibliography
Eric Whitacre Biography: http://ericwhitacre.com/
“Whitacre’s Way”, UNLV Fall Magazine, Fall 2007 :
http://magazine.unlv.edu/Issues/Fall07/32whitacres.html
Weiler, David (2012, February 15) Personal Interview