One slacks on occasion. I slacked the last few days in providing you dear reader with a video to entertain your mind for three minutes. I look to amend that by providing you many minutes of audio enjoyment. Todays videos are chorale pieces composed by the still very much alive Eric Whitacre. He is my favorite chorale composer and writes truly incredible pieces with harmonies ranging from utter chaotic dissonance to stunning consonance.
The first is a piece I did a few years ago back when I sang in choirs in high school. It's called Sleep. It was originally written to the words of a Robert Frost poem "Stopping by woods on a snowy evening" but due to copyright laws it was not allowed to be published. It sat beneath a veritable mountain of music on his desk for many years until it resurfaced with new words written by Charles Antoni Silvestri about the very moment before sleep. This is Sleep by Eric Whitacre.
This second one is not for the faint of heart. It is fifteen minutes of utter harmonic bliss. Full of what have become known as Whitacre chords which are repeating diatonic clusters of Major triads with seconds and occasionally perfect fourths above. It is called When David Heard and the words are from 2 Samuel 18:33. It had not been set to music by any major composer for over four hundred years until Whitacre composed this. It's a very dramatic and powerful piece full of sounds similar to the sad wailing of a father losing his son. Do not listen to this piece unless you have the fifteen minutes to spare to fully enjoy the beauty and scope of the entire piece. Enjoy
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