LIGHT & GOLD

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PROGRAMME NOTES Lux Aurumque After deciding upon the poem by Edward Esch (I was immediately struck by its genuine, elegant simplicity), I had it translated into the Latin by poet Charles Anthony Silvestri (Tony). I tried to write simple, ‘breathing’ gestures, gentle motions that would allow the music to shimmer and glow. This piece became the subject of my Virtual Choir in 2010, achieving more than a million hits in just two months. I had played with the idea of singers from all parts of the world coming together via the web previously, but for Lux Aurumque I wanted to push the concept to the next level. It was so exciting to imagine individuals all recording their respective voice parts in the comfort of their home or offi ce, cutting it together to form a Virtual Choir. I recorded a conductor track on video, fi lming it in complete silence hearing the music only in my head. Then I watched the video and played in the piano accompaniment to my conductor track to be used as a guide for the singers, for pitch and rhythm, when fi lming their voice part. The sheet music was offered as a free download. As singers began posting their individual tracks, I called for ‘auditions’ for the soprano solo. Melody Meyers from Tennessee posted my favourite entry. My goal with this ‘chapter’ of the Virtual Choir was to see if we could not just sing our parts separately and cut them together; I wanted to see if we could actually make music. There is a lot of rubato in my conducting (slowing 4 LIGHT & GOLD It is a huge honour to work with the wonderfully talented singers of the Sydney Philharmonia Symphony Chorus and VOX. To make my conducting debut with these two fantastic choirs in the beautiful surroundings and acoustics of the Sydney Opera House will be a truly memorable experience. Although it is not my fi rst time in Australia, I have long waited to return to this amazing country. I have many fond memories of my previous visits so am absolutely thrilled to be back here for what promises to be a magical evening of music. Eric Whitacre down, speeding up) and some very specifi c dynamic gestures, and the singers responded beautifully. When I saw the fi nished video for the fi rst time I actually teared up. The intimacy of all the faces, the sound of the singing, the obvious poetic symbolism about our shared humanity and our need to connect; all of it completely overwhelmed me. We had singers involved from 12 different countries. It must be said that a lot of the credit for its beauty should go to Scott Haines, who spent untold hours editing and polishing the video. Alleluia I’m not an atheist, but I’m not a Christian either, and for my entire career I have resisted setting texts that could be used in a liturgical context. After spending the 2010 Michelmas term in Cambridge (Sidney Sussex College), though, singing with Dr. David Skinner and his marvellous Chapel Choir, I began to see the deep wisdom in the liturgical service. I found myself suddenly open to the history and the beauty of the poetry, and it was the single word Alleluia, “praise God”, that most enchanted me. It seemed the perfect fi t for the music of my wind symphony work October, which to me is a simple and humble meditation on the glory of Autumn. Alleluia was written for Dr. David Skinner and the Sidney Sussex Chapel Choir; they premiered it in the Sidney Sussex Chapel, Cambridge University, on 25 June, 2011.
The Seal Lullaby In the spring of 2004 I was lucky enough to have my show Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings presented at the ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop. The workshop is the brainchild of legendary composer Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Godspell), and his insights about the creative process were profoundly helpful. He became a great mentor and friend to the show and, I am honoured to say, to me personally. Soon after the workshop I received a call from a major fi lm studio. Stephen had recommended me to them and they wanted to know if I might be interested in writing music for an animated feature. I was incredibly excited, said yes, and took the meeting. The creative executives with whom I met explained that the studio heads had always wanted to make an epic adventure, a classic animated fi lm based on Kipling’s “The White Seal”. I have always loved animation (the early Disney fi lms; Looney Tunes; everything Pixar makes) and I couldn’t believe that I might get a chance to work in that grand tradition on such great material. “The White Seal” is a beautiful story, classic Kipling, dark and rich and not at all condescending to kids. Best of all, Kipling begins his tale with the mother seal singing softly to her young pup. (The opening poem is called The Seal Lullaby). I was struck so deeply by those fi rst beautiful words, and a simple, sweet Disney-esque song just came gushing out of me. I wrote it down as quickly as I could, had my wife record it while I accompanied her at the piano, and then dropped it off at the fi lm studio. I didn’t hear anything from them for weeks and weeks, and I began to despair. Did they hate it? Was it too melodically complex? Did they even listen to it? Finally, I called them, begging to know the reason that they had rejected my tender little song. “Oh,” said the exec, “we decided to make Kung Fu Panda instead.” So I didn’t do anything with it, just sang it to my baby son every night to get him to go to sleep. (Success rate: less than 50%.) And a few years later the Towne Singers graciously commissioned this arrangement of it. I’m grateful to them for giving it a new life. And I’m especially grateful to Stephen Schwartz, to whom the piece is dedicated. His friendship and invaluable tutelage has meant more to me than I could ever tell him. The City and the Sea The City and the Sea is a set of fi ve settings on poems by E.E. Cummings I wrote: one for SATB chorus and piano; and one for solo baritone and piano. The entire set is based on white key clusters in the piano. I’ve started calling this the “oven-mitt” technique, because the chords are played as if you are wearing mitts on your hands – the four fi ngers all bunched together and the thumb on its own. Occasionally I break up the clusters and write the chords as arpeggios, as in maggie and milly and molly and may. Higher, Faster, Stronger I was truly honoured to be invited to write a piece for the BBC Proms in 2012. There is such a sense of history with the Proms. I can feel the weight of hundreds of commissions and performances before mine; over the years every great ensemble or group has performed at the Proms in the incredible Royal Albert Hall. I wanted to write a piece which showcased the extraordinary talent of my own professional choir, the Eric Whitacre Singers, and the BBC Singers, while paying homage to the Proms tradition of excellence. The title, Higher, Faster, Stronger is derived from the Olympic motto, Citius, Altius, Fortius. My idea was to take the combined total of 56 singers, split them into three choirs: Higher Choir, Faster Choir, Stronger Choir, and the audience will get the impression that the choirs are racing and competing throughout the piece. I collaborated with my close friend, poet and historian, Charles Anthony Silvestri to fi nd the perfect poetry: an Olympic Ode from the 5th century BC by Greek poet Pindar, translated into Latin. Light & Gold 5 LIGHT & GOLD 5
Page 1 and 2: THE MUSIC OF ERIC WHITACRE LIGHT &
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Page 7 and 8: Sleep In the winter of 1999 I was c
Page 9 and 10: Photo: Karen Steains SYNERGY PERCUS
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Page 14 and 15: DONORS Sydney Philharmonia Choirs w
Page 16: SYDNEY PHILHARMONIA CHOIRS 2013 SEA

LIGHT & GOLD

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