I first discovered Eric Whitacre, because I had set my radio alarm clock to WQXR, the classical radio station in New York City, and I awoke to a very beautiful choral piece. The DJ said it had been recorded using videos submitted by people over the Internet. I was intrigued and went and looked the video up on YouTube. I listened to it again, and loved it. Not only was the sound very beautiful, but also I loved that Eric had organized the little video images from his contributors all over the world in creative ways that were visually beautiful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7o7BrlbaDs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WhWDCw3Mng
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3rRaL-Czxw
If you read the rest of this blog, you will see that I have a quixotic quest for a world anthem, a Michael Jackson inspired quest, to find world unity through common culture, and especially a unifying song. Eric wasn't doing precisely what I was seeking in my quixotic quest, but it seemed related.
Later I looked him up in various places, wikipedia, facebook and twitter, for instance. I misunderstood his wikipedia entry. I thought it said that he had actually been in Depeche Mode. I was interested in that group, because Josh Groban had once mentioned it as a group he loved in high school. Again, if you've read the rest of this blog, you will see that I'm a Grobanite. I think I even tweeted Josh that this guy had been in Depeche Mode, which I now see is not true, which I'm sure Josh must have known, since he is so good at networking in the music industry.
Eric does have a beautiful voice himself. He put up a recording on his soundcloud & tweeted a link to it once.
https://soundcloud.com/ericwhitacre/trust-me-1986
I liked this performance and suspect that Depeche Mode made a mistake in not including him, but perhaps their mistake was the world's gain. He might not have been doing the virtual choral pieces if he had been in Depeche Mode. In any case, Eric himself did not sing at this concert. He just conducted the chorus, in music he had either composed or arranged.
Alice Tully Hall has marvelous acoustics, and was the perfect place to hear the subtle music that Eric creates. The lovely movement of individual voices in complex harmonies was easily distinguishable. It was, perhaps, something of a visit home for Eric, because, although he is currently a musician in residence at Cambridge University, he graduated from Julliard, which is adjacent to Alice Tully Hall.
Although, Eric is considered a classical musician, I would not say that this music was unequivocally classical. It was strongly new music influenced.
For me, that was a good thing, because classical music gives me narcolepsy. I hate when that happens, because then I feel that I'm wasting the money I spent on the concert. At this concert, there were only a couple of songs that had that characteristic structure that knocks me out. Mostly, I was enthralled with the complex movement of the 20 or so voices of his choir.
The sound is at once sweet and eerie. I really loved it.
The soloist, Elin Manahn Thomas, had an extraordinary and unique voice, very high, very clear, very beautiful and yet also somewhat eerie, like a cross between an electronic instrument and a person, with almost the tonality of a boy soprano, but not quite. It was really fun to listen to her.
The chorus performed mostly a capella. The men were on a slightly raised platform, with the women in front . There seemed to be equal numbers of men and women. It was odd that when the soloist was not singing she went to the back of the raised platform and sat down, facing upstage, behind the men. It looked for all the world as if she had been made to sit in a corner, like a naughty child.
The concert was only 70 minutes long, with no intermission. I would have liked to see it go on longer.
There was a program, but the list of songs performed did not match the program, with some being omitted, others added, and the order changed.
The hall was, sadly, not filled. Still, amongst those there, I am pleased to report that I saw a very diverse age range & approximately equal numbers of males and females. I like that when music appeals to all ages. That makes me feel that it's more universal. There were also a number of non-white audience members. This was nice to see, also, given that the performers were all young and white. Eric is auditioning people for a performance 3/30/14 in NYC. Maybe he will get a more diverse crew for that.
The guy sitting next to me was clapping too loudly & hurting my ears. I learned -- from my visits to Live with Kelly, when Josh was co-hosting, from Gelman, the producer there -- that the way to make more noise as an audience applauding is not to hit one's hands together harder, but to clap more often. I wish that was more generally known.
Eric was kindly autographing tickets and CDs (that were also sold there) after the perfomance. I got 3 CDs autographed, plus my ticket.
This was definitely a wonderful experience. I really loved the music, and Eric made very creative use of poetry from ee cumings and Ogden Nash.
-----------------
Addendum:
Alice Tully Hall is really an ideal venue for complex acoustic music like Eric's. It is small, so you're never too far from the show. The acoustics of the hall are superb. The seats are comfortable.
Eric makes wonderful use of singers with exceptionally good high notes. You can really hear that in Alice Tully Hall.
Unfortunately, the CDs just can't entirely reproduce that sound. You should definitely try to hear a live performance. I hope he comes out with a DVD as those do better with the really high frequencies. Also, I thought the CDs would have the virtual choir recordings on them, but they don't. They have conventional choirs.
Another Eric Whitacre video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ty3HVeAkdc
No comments:
Post a Comment