Epyllion

Forgot to say......Damn, Lucy sure is kicking up the dust isn't she?? London, weddings, parties..... My my my.

LIVE IT UP, GIRL, LIVE IT UP!!

:)

Pass on my hello and love.

~Poe

As promised, here's info about the Eric Whitacre Choral Invitational! Enjoy!

From the diary of me:

March 5, 2008

So two nights ago I had the GREAT pleasure of seeing one of my all time favorite composers (Eric Whitacre) conduct his pieces with high school and college choirs. By the way, this is something that I have been looking forward to for months!!! Each of the high school groups sang three pieces, one of them being his and conducted by him. The only exception was one high school group who didn't sing any of his pieces - however he did conduct one piece with them (Rachmaninoff's Bogoroditse Devo raduysa). And the Capital University Chapel Choir sang four pieces, three being Whitacre's. It was a great night full of wonderful music and stories! It started off with great anticipation as everyone waited for Whitacre to come on stage. The stage and isles and balcony began to fill with choir singers dressed in robes and black outfits. There were a total of 7 choirs surrounding the whole auditorium. That would be a total of about 300 singers all together! Then the choir director for Capital, Lynda Hasseler, comes on stage and makes a long and very nice introduction for Whitacre. Then it happened. Whitacre walks on stage and a roar of applause echoes (of course, it wouldn't happen any other way :) ). Then the "Combined Mass Choir" started off the concert by singing Whitacre's piece Lux Aurumque. Oh, I was just taken aback! It just filled the whole place with loveliness. What a wonderful start!

After the performance of Lux Aurumque he begins to entertain the audience by the talking about the weather.

"I was surprised by the weather here. I brought my long johns, my hat, my gloves, my scarf, and all of a sudden it's 68 degrees!"

Well of course everyone cracked up. I began to clap because it was so hilarious. And wouldn't you know it; Whitacre turns to me and says "Yes clap for that, thank you!" Well I really blushed and in my own head I was thinking "Who me? Is he talking to me?

Then he continued. He introduced Charles Anthony Silvestri, a poet and good friend that he collaborates with often.

"I just wanted for you to place a name with a face - the face of a genius."
Tony, as he is called, just smiles and grins as if hes saying "yep, thats me".

Up next was the Avon Lake High School, Avon Lake Chorale. They sang How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place by Johannes Brahms, which was very pretty. This was conducted by their director. Then Whitacre comes out again and then talks about the piece he conducted with Avon Lake (Go, Lovely Rose).

"I wrote this piece in 1991, and it was my very first piece I've ever written. It was for the choir director at the University of Las Vegas where I went. It was a gift for him..."

And what a lovely, gentle, and heartfelt performance that was. The soloists were wonderful as well! Last, Avon Lake sang Every Night (When the Sun Goes Down) by Gwyneth Walker. There was a tenor (I believe) solo at the beginning that was very soothing, and the whole thing was just very inspirational. Then they walked off stage while being applauded for their wonderful work

Next came the Dublin Jerome High School A Cappella Choir. They started by singing Sicut Cervus by Giovanni Palestrina, which was very beautiful and chant-like. Next, Whitacre comes on stage again to talk about the Rachmaninoff piece Bogorodiste Devo raduysa.
He said "Ive never conducted a Rachmaninoff piece before. And they asked me if I would conduct this Rachmaninoff piece and I was like 'oh yeah!'"

He smiled and became very excited! Again, there was some chuckling from the crowd. That piece was very soulful and very pretty.

Then the choir sang Salmo 150 by Ernani Aguiar. This was very interesting because the voices here were pretty rhythmic. Then the choir was applauded again, and they walked offstage.

Next choir to sing was the Olentangy Liberty High School Varsity Chorale. They came on stage and sang O Nata Lux by Morten Lauridsen. This piece to me seemed very shimmering. Next Whitacre once again graces the stage to talk about his piece With a Lily in Your Hand. He says that he also wrote this piece in 1991, "right on the heals of Go, Lovely Rose". This piece is very dance-like, with a majority of the choir singing "la" in the background of the melody. Next came the piece Desh by Ethan Sperry. There was a very interesting use of voices and sounds in this piece, the bass and tenor made these "shh" sounds making it sound like there were shakers or maracas in with the choir. The choir gets their applaudes, bows, and goes off stage.

Then, once again, the "Combined Mass Choir" surrounded us around the isles and stage. The Capital University director came on stage and introduced the next piece, Jambo rafiki yangu ("Welcome, my friend" in Swahili). She mentioned how the "Combined Mass Choir" practiced it just today, and how it really is appropriate for tonight - as far as welcoming Eric Whitacre and saying how special it was to have him there. Sadly I forgot the translation of the words. This piece had a rhythm section with bongos, which was really fun, and the performance itself was very energetic. It was even livelier with the 1,500 people singing it at the same time!

Then came the five minute intermission. Whew. And as if thats not enough, theres more!

The Hilliard Darby High School Symphonic Choir came on stage. They sang Heleuyan by Jerry Ulrich, which was very cool because theres only one word that is sung (Heleuyan) yet the way the composer sets it up makes the moods different each time it is sung. Next they sang the piece A Jubilant Song by Normal Dello Joio. As the name of the piece eludes, this piece is very joyous. Then Whitacre comes back on stage again. He talks about his piece Water Night.

"This poem is by Mexican poet Octavio Paz. Usually setting poems takes me months and months, and a lot of blood sweat and tears. But this one seemed to flow naturally. And I just sketched it out as quickly as I could. It took me 45 minutes to write, and its one of my most popular pieces. I guess theres a lesson in there somewhere."

More laughs from the audience - Whitacre conducts. Serene notes and sounds vibrate through the auditorium. It is pure, and very natural.

Sing With Gladness (Graudete Omnes) by Jan Piet. Sweelinck. This Marriage.

"My wife and I just celebrated our 10th anniversary a few weeks ago."

The audience cheered and applauded with this happy news. Whitacre smiles.

"Thanks. Its my wife you should applaud."

More giggles.

"I wrote This Marriage for my wife for our 7th anniversary. I wanted to give her a sort of bon-bon if you will. So I used the poem by the Sufi mystic Rumi. Then I gave it to her...and...I think it went ok because about nine months later..."

He didnt even need to finish that thought - everyone started laughing! He turned around and started to conduct the choir. The music is simple, yet very tender, elegant, and sweet. Whitacre goes off stage.

Then the choir sings Kplango by Derek Bermel. This incorporated drums as well, which adds to the piece. Then the choir goes off stage, after applauds etc.

The next choir to sing was the Capital University Chapel Choir.

Their director came out once again. She smiles and says We have made a slight change to the program. Were going to perform Bachs entire Magnificant next weekend. Instead were going to sing Take My Hand, Lord.

The audience applauds. Now this piece was very different. It was a gospel song, and the singers and soloists had strong voices. At the end everyone gave the choir a standing ovation and were applauding wildly. But me, I was sitting there. In short, it just wasnt my type of thing. Then Whitacre comes out again, with a smile on his face.

And now for something totally different.

Laughs. Eric then talks about his piece Animal Crackers.

"One of my favorite poets is Ogden Nash. Hes most famous for his two line poem candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker.(chuckles and laughs from the audience) And he wrote one hundred ridiculous little animal poems. I plan to set all of them one day, but so far Ive done three and I named them Animal Crackers. The second poem, The Cow goes: The third poem, The Firefly goes: The fireflys name is something for which science has no name. I can think of nothing eerier than flying around with an unidentified glow on a persons posterior. "

The first of the three poems (The Panther) starts off with the piano imitating the footsteps of a hunting panther. Then the choir started to sing in a sort of dramatic way: The panther is like a leopard except it hasnt been peppered. If you behold a panther crouch prepare to say ouch. Better yet if called by a panther dont anther.

The audience laughs and chuckles during the song, and at the end everyone was laughing and clapping. Whitacre turns around and gives a nod to the audience and then turns around to conduct the rest. In The Cow, which is a slow piece, the tenors sing a low mooing sound while the rest of the choir sings the poem. And The Firefly is a frantic poem, with a piano part that brings to mind a flying firefly. At the end of that there was some laughing and lots of applauding.

Up next was A Boy and a Girl.

I tried to set this poem in 1993. It didnt work. I tried again in 1998, and it still wasnt quite right. Then in 2002 I finally got it.

Now this song starts with brilliant and tender chords, as the text talk about a boy and a girl in love. Then after two refrains of the same ideas, the whole mood gets a little darker. At this point (at least this is how I interpreted it) both the boy and the girl have died.

After applauds, the choir prepared to sing Five Hebrew Love Songs.

"So at Julliard I fell in love with this beautiful hot girl, who is now my wife. Shes Israeli. And when I told my sister, whos not the brightest, she said Oh, does - does she have a red dot on her forehead?"

Laughter. Whitacre continues.

"But I wanted to know more about Israeli culture, so I asked her to write these little postcards in Hebrew. She came up with these five delicious poems, and I put them to music for Hila and our German friend. He thought that we would be troubadours and basically perform for our meals. These songs are close to my heart and...blah blah blah...Five Hebrew Love Songs."

After the string quartet (violin, viola, cello, and bass) tune, the quartet begins to play (this is for the first of the five songs, Temuna (A Picture)). The tune is very soft and beautiful. Then the singers start to sing in this lush and very sweet Hebrew. Then the second song, Kala Kalla (Light Bride), mixes a slow chant with dance-like la. Larov (Mostly) is very sweet and full of love. Eyze Sheleg (What Snow!) beings with a bell-like tum from the bass and tenors, and this repeats through most of the piece. This symbolizes the bells that Eric and Hila heard one morning coming from the cathedral that they performed at. The solo soprano speaks, or rather whispers, the poem. And it ends with a sensitive ooh-ooh-ooh. Rakut (Tenderness).

And for their last song of the night, the Combined Mass Choir surrounded us yet again. Whitacre comes on stage with Tony to talk about Sleep.

I wanted to set Robert Frosts poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. I composed the music for it and everything. Then when I asked for permission from to publish the piece, the lawyer answered in the way lawyers do no. And I tried again, and they told me that I couldnt get the piece published until the year 2038 and that if they found any publication of performance of it that I would be sued. So I asked Tony to write a poem with the same feel as the Frost poem. My mother asked me if I would publish the original in 2038, and the answer is noooooo!

At this point the audience cracked up and everyone cheered.

I was thinking about my then three year old son not being able to get to sleep and me when I was a boy not wanting to go to sleep. So I showed Eric what I had come up with.

And after Tony showed me his poem, I like it a lot better than that stupid Frost poem.

Laughs again.

Sleep, everyone.

From the downbeat of the baton I felt like I was engulfed and lulled away. It was absolutely stunning, and relaxing. But at the same time it had the right feel of dramatic expression. But the best part, in my opinion, was at the end. The word sleep repeated through the choir, softly and elegantly. It almost felt like a meditation on the word itself. That went on for about 45 seconds, each sleep getting softer and softer until it was inaudible. Such an effect to this day I still think its one of the best musical effects that I have ever heard.

As soon as Eric Whitacre put his baton to his side, the whole auditorium stood up and clapped and cheered. Eric smiled a very genuine smile and bowed repeatedly. He was beaming the whole time.

There was a mixture of excitement and sadness in my heart. I was glad I came and I had a great time, but I didnt want it to end. The applauding lasted a good five minutes or so.

The best part was that every time Eric Whitacre conducts a piece, his face is always very expressive and hes always very sensitive to the piece hes conducting. He usually half-closes his eyes and transports himself to the music. It was just incredible, and something you have to see in order to fully witness!

Even though I didn't get to meet Eric Whitacre in person afterwards, the night was still very special. :)

Awww, thanks! It certainly was something that I'll remember for a long time! :D He was a very entertaining guy. Plus you all know how I feel about his music. :D :D :D