Whitacre's Latest

Fun task....consonants EVERYWHERE!!!!!!! lol...

I can't really describe i walked the boulevard as particularly aggressive; it sounded like pop music. Kraft it ain't. But - but - it does contain some counterpoint, which is rather encouraging from Mr Whitacre and suggests that his style is evolving. Who knows - perhaps next year we shall see a five-voice fugue for speech choir?

It's interesting, Cloudburst was his second published work. What's more interesting is that he "quotes" pieces. He will blog on his website about how he used this chord progression in another song on purpose cause he likes it so much. People are fascinated by this. Lolz.

@Magna Carta: Whitacre himself has stated that his pieces are ENTIRELY dedicated to the lyrics. He is a romanticist to the extreme. This (I think) is why his pieces often have many similarities to each other. He writes the music to fit the words, and since it's his ear interpreting the poetry, his derivations of those words have a similar feel to them (this would also explain why he re-uses musical gestures). He also has stated that he doesn't innovate for the sake of innovation. He just writes whatever he wants to hear.

I can see what people mean by "all his pieces sound the same", but only to an extent. Yes, his pieces have a pretty consistent tempo, and they do tend to have a series of climaxes and cluster chords. But Nox aurumque sounds completely different from any of his other pieces, as does The Stolen Child, Her Sacred Spirit Soars, and i walked the boulevard, not to mention Ghost Train. Granted, many of his pieces are quite similar, but there is some variety there.

@siwi: I thought it was pretty aggressive. I mean, the choir was literally shouting at a couple of points in that piece. But that's just me.

I think Whitacre has yet to write a fugue because it's hard to find poetry that sounds like a fugue. He has done some counterpoint, though. "Her Sacred Spirit Soars" was a gigantic round, and "little tree" had a good amount of polyphonic writing.

He has posted a new recording and better quality on his Website. SoaringLeap.com

:D (I am talking about the Whitacre's settings)