'Eric Whitacre Biography\r'

'Eric Whitacre is one of the most nearly cognize, performed, and awarded chorale compilers in the modern day choral scene. Eric was born on January 2, 1970 in Reno, Nevada, dabbling in piano lessons as a barbarian and later, in junior high, joining process band, and playing synthesizer in a techno-pop band. Believe it or not, Eric dreamt of becoming a rock star. (Bowen) Although he is not among the likes of Metallica or The Beatles, Eric has won a Grammy for Best chorale Performance for his album â€Å"Light and money” in the past year, as intimately as a nomination in 2007 for â€Å" deluge and Other choral flora”.He is the youngest recipient ever of the Raymond C Brock consignment intermitn by the American Choral Directors Association, awarded in 2001, as well as numerous other awards from the ACDA, the Barlow international war paint competition, and American Composers Forum. ( formalized Website Biography) Although Whitacre is known for his choral works, he also writes and composes for wind ensembles, full orchestras, a full musical titled â€Å" heaven Lost: Shadows and Wings”, as well as lay outs for solo voice and backup instrumentals. The most known effect that Eric has composed is the acapella choral install titled â€Å" tranquillity”. Sleep” is a SATB choral piece. The narration behind this haunting song is that Julia Armstrong, a lawyer and professional mezzo-soprano from Texas, precious commision Whitacre to compose a choral that would be performed by the Austin ProChorus, where she was an avid constituent of the choir. She wanted the piece to be a memorial of her beloved p atomic number 18nts, who died within weeks of for each one other after fifty age of marriage. She wanted the piece to use the verse by Robert Frost, called Stopping By timberland on a Snowy Evening. Whitacre concur to take on her request and was late moved by her trading floor.Unfortunately, after a careful composition by Whitacre and a breathtaking performance of the piece by the Austin ProChorus, Robert Frosts estate forbid Whitacre from exploitation the poem in any counseling for the piece. The poem will become globe domain in 2038, hardly he did not have that languish to clench as other directors were practically p bleed to use the piece for their choirs. Instead of allow the piece â€Å"lie under his bed, stillborn”, as Whitacre said, he talked it over with his married woman and decided to ask his friend and poet Charles Anthony Silvestri to compose a poem to pit speech communication to the iece. Silvestri was a trusted lyricist for Whitacre, written material lyrics for Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine, Lux Aurumque, sick Aurumque, and Her Sacred Spirit Soars, all noted Whitacre pieces. Tony incorporated a lot of the equal ideals of Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening, the biggest being ‘ log Zs. Whitacre says that he loves Tonys poem more than he ever did Stopping and will never set the words to Frosts poem to his song, even when it becomes acquirable in 26 years. (Whitacre) The piece itself is musically exquisite.It grabs your attention almost immanently. Whitacre uses this method of stacking voices at crucial points in the plot by splitting e real voice vocalization into both parts, so what was a foursome part becomes an eight part. The texture and the kinetics are maticulously planned and formulated, as if Whitacre were sit down there telling a story about a personal experience, but the choir was doing the speaking for him. There are moments when you can feel the pain and hurt he wanted to express just through the dynamic of the voices. The emotion of this piece is palpable.The lyrics have: â€Å"The evening hangs beneath the woolgather A silver thread on darkened dune With closing eyeball and resting head I know that short sleep is coming soon Upon my pillow, safe in bed, A thousand pictures fill my head, I cannot sle ep, my minds aflight, And yet my limbs seem made of lead If there are noises in the night, A frightening shadow, flickering light… hence I downslope unto sleep, Where clouds of dream give second sight. What dreams may come, both dark and deep Of flying wings and lift leap As I retract unto sleep As I surrender unto sleep. ” ( prescribed Website)The last few bars of the piece are of the sopranos holding the word â€Å"sleep” and the other voice parts telling â€Å"sleep” in a two note pattern, growing quieter and quieter into absolute silence. I imagine that the song, in its core, is about death. Perhaps, Silvestri wrote the piece with someone in mind who was very sick and their death came as a relief, almost as sleep does at the end of a very long and tiring day. Whitacre does something in his music that is so unique and complex, it is almost hard to believe that he did not know how to read music when he attended the University of Nevada as a Music Ed ucation major. Bowen) The mode that he builds concords to provide moments of tension is seventh or ninth chords, with or without hang seconds and fourths and root-position major triads with an added major second and/or perfect fourth. (Shrock) Whitacre also uses unconventional chord progressions, meter changes, and harmonies. He is also known to use hand actions or props, as he does in the piece â€Å"Cloudburst” when the singers use snapping, clapping, and stomping to imitate the sound of a rainstorm.With all of that being said, Eric has almost postcode in common with other composers of our time, and frankly that is what gives him so much of an edge. He is unbidden to step out of the box and be daring and different and that risk has compensable off. Works Cited: Bowen, Meurig. â€Å"Whitacre: Offical Biography. ” Web article. (2006): n. page. Web. . â€Å"Official Biography. ” Official Website. n. page. Web. . Whitacre, Eric. â€Å"The Story Behind Sle ep”. Official Website. Web Article. (The song can be heard on this link) Shrock, Dennis (Mar 2009). Choral Repertoire. Oxford University jam (USA). p. 761. ISBN 978-0-19-532778-6.\r\n'