Blog

Well, Well – Look Who’s on the Cover of Gramophone

Posted on March 7, 2012 at 8:34 pm

Woo hoo! Even more thrilling (and humbling) for me is that John Adams, one of my heroes, is on the same cover.

The April issue will be on newsstands March 12, but you can download the digital version now. You can also hear part of my interview and the first five minutes of the Alleluia on Gramophone’s site.

Listen to an Exclusive Preview of WATER NIGHT Right Now

Posted on March 5, 2012 at 8:10 pm

Decca is offering a lovely preview of the new album, Water Night. You can hear substantial cuts from every track, available right now.

Click here to preview WATER NIGHT. Woo hoo!

When David Heard, Performed Live by The Eric Whitacre Singers

Posted on February 29, 2012 at 10:08 am

The Eric Whitacre Singers in London’s Union Chapel last October. This performance took place on the night before we went into the studio, where we recorded this – and other pieces – for the new album Water Night.

Asleep in the Arms of the Slow Swinging Seas

Posted on February 25, 2012 at 9:34 pm

A few years ago I did some concerts and lectures in Montreal. During one of the talks, in the midst of answering an audience question about The Seal Lullaby, I realized that the members of Òran, a terrific Canadian choir that knew the piece, were sitting in the audience. I asked them to join me onstage to perform it (we had never met, let alone rehearsed). One of the singers was holding his newborn baby (I think his wife was also in the group) and our impromptu performance very quickly became an actual lullaby. Truly, one of my sweetest memories.

The New Album Now Available for Pre-Order

Posted on February 19, 2012 at 4:40 pm

My new album, Water Night, will be released April 3rd, but you can pre-order now from iTunes and Amazon. I can’t tell you what an honor it was to work once again with the mighty London Symphony Orchestra and the incomparable Eric Whitacre Singers for my second disc on Decca.

Pre-order now:

iTunes US Amazon US iTunes UK Amazon UK

iTunes DE Amazon DE

So cool to see the first disc, Light & Gold, doing so well following our Grammy win. Back in the Top 10, baby!

The track listing for Water Night:

1. Alleluia* (Eric Whitacre Singers) 09:25
2. Equus* (Full Orchestra – London Symphony Orchestra) 09:02
3. Oculi Omnium* (Eric Whitacre Singers) 03:17
4. The River Cam* (Cello and Orchestra – Julian Lloyd Webber and the London Symphony Orchestra) 11:54
5. Her Sacred Spirit Soars (Eric Whitacre Singers) 06:58
6. Water Night* (String Orchestra –  London Symphony Orchestra) 06:06
7. Goodnight Moon* (Hila Plitmann, London Symphony Orchestra) 05:09
8. When David Heard (Eric Whitacre Singers) 17:38
9. Sleep My Child* (Eric Whitacre Singers) 06:22

* Denotes a world premiere recording

 

    Here we go again…

  • Leopold Plantenhof: Eric Whitacre put behind bars. Fans weep.
  • Hans-Joachim Lustig: Looking forward to performing the result! ;-)
  • Dan: Can't wait to hear whatever ends up on that piece of paper! ;-)

    • New York Idea

  • Elizabeth Healy: Hi, good fun.. and I like the NY skyline sound file pattern! ( But I think you mean "motif" rather than "motive"?) E
  • Charles Anthony Silvestri: The sound file even looks like New York!
  • Donald Sosin: Love your music, the Sleep video moved me to tears. This NY clip sounds like the Magic Flute ovt. a bit. My own NYC music for the silent film MANHATTA (1920), a 12 minute ode to the city by Charles Sheeler and Paul Strand, has been recorded by a Slovak chamber orchestra, and can
  • Courtney Lea: Glad to know I'm not the only one who does this but with my camera.
  • Jamie Diamond: I do this all the time when melodies strike! My only problem is finding a good way to somehow capture the harmonies and context that go with it, because I'm sure to forget those too, and then the magic's gone. :( Still, very cool knowing you do this too.

    • Soaring Leap: Ohio – What a Day

  • Orry Burbott Dixon: I would go to Colorado from Florida for another class!
  • Orry Burbott Dixon: Thank you so much Eric, Capital University, and the Producers and Staff that helped make this a dream come true for me. I will never forget this experience. It was truly magical! I cant wait to attend the next soaring leap here in the states.
  • Jon Fisher: That was great! (Amazing, especially after only 25 min.) When will there be a "Soaring Leap: Colorado"??? :-D

    • The First Ideas

  • Joshua Leath: Ok...what would it take to get a signed print of that!?
  • Colin Williams: I love the chance to see inside a great composers head. It truly does help student composers like myself to understand what the great composers where thinking about while writing. I was, however, curious as to if the circle on the bottom could be explained. Its quite an interesting and detailed sketch that I would
  • Dennis Scannell: Ah!!! So this is the kind of thing you and John Corigliano were discussing in the postlude to the VC3 launch at Lincoln Center! That really was a revelation — revolting against “the tyranny of harmony”. It all makes so much sense, and speaks to the transporting quality of your music. Such an
  • Aviel Mann Ballo: James Kenney put it very well, sir. Your handwriting alone is magical.
  • James Kenney: As long as I've taught music (31 years a college prof.) and my Guildhall School of Music, London, post-grad degree; looking at this score, I feel as though I know nothing. (I even find Crumb's "Makrokosmos" more comprehensible.) To me, your music is, not only among the most beautiful ever created by anyone

    • Madrid

  • Jeremiah Witte: I loved Madrid when I visited a while ago. It's a beautiful city. If only you could catch a Real Madrid game!

    • The Rules

  • Aviel Mann Ballo: This must be an oddball choir. Love it.
  • Kate Rothman: Out of the mouths of babes ; )

    • The Virtual Choir: How We Did It

  • Jennifer: Wow, this is ethereal and truly beautiful, congratulations on a great concept! Jen