Customer Reviews

The Music of Eric Whitacre

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I have been a choral singer for 30 years, and have been to Europe five times on concert tours. Although I have a serious interest in all genres of music, choral music is what moves me most. I'm always open to hearing new music, and once I encounter something that appeals to me, I usually seek to find a copy for my library.

During last year's holiday season, I happened to catch a Christmas festival broadcast on the PBS-HD channel, featuring the choirs, handbells and orchestra of Concordia College. In the middle of the concert they performed "Lux Aurumque" by Eric Whitacre. At that time, I had heard of Eric Whitacre, but had not yet heard any of his music.

Words cannot express what I felt as I listened to their performance of this piece for the first time; it was truly magical, and brought tears to my eyes. Fortunately, I captured the broadcast on my TiVo for repeat viewings. I was hooked.

I wasted no time in looking for this young composer's music, and found the story of his career fascinating. The other CD's featuring Eric Whitacre's compositions are in wider distribution than this one, which I believe was the first. This CD contains his early compositions for wind ensemble, three choral pieces and one setting of a song cycle for piano, violin and soprano. The sound quality is fairly good, considering the age of the original recording. Recommended for anyone who wants a deeper insight into the evolutiion of Eric Whitacre's compositional skills.

I have both listened and sang much of Whitacre's work, and I can't say enough for it. The daring blends of parts and amazing dissonence make it different from other composers out there today. Whitacre manages to make music that can be taken for face value or you can look for symbolism within the chords and cresendos. This collection is a must for any music lover.

This CD is truly remarkable in the sound and content- Eric is a one-of-a-kind composer with fresh ideas. The only thing I found disappointing is that a few songs I really like, such as Sleep, were not recorded on this album (in wind ensemble arrangement). However, it did show me some of his other works, which I had never heard of before.

I am a band student who has played some of Whitacre's wind ensemble works, and I have to admit, he is probably one of the most talented composers (for wind ensemble, of course) of his generation. This cd almost lives up to it. The performance of "God$illa Eats Las Vegas" was stunning, and it kept me laughing for the full fifteen minutes. I listened to Ghost Train, and it was not the best recording. The 1st movement was a little muffled in terms of articulation, as I have already said. In the second movement, the soprano saxophone solo was played on tenor saxophone, which made it sound a little odd. The best recording I have heard is probably the one on "Teaching Music Through Performance in Band" cd sets. That was an incredible recording. Every note was clear, and the accelerondo was thrilling (on TMTPIB), and every minute of the third movement had me on the edge of my seat. But back to this album. The choral works and the song cycle "Rak Hahatchala" were performed (with Eric at the piano) astoundingly. It almost makes up for the uninspired performance of Ghost Train. Great album anyway, though if you really want a good recording of Ghost Train, look for the North Texas Wind Symphony, conducted by Eugene Miligaro Corporon, on the disc Luminaries.