Eric Whitacre times the quantity of the sum of Orchestra Hall, St. Olaf Choir, and VocalEssence plus the sum of Good Friends and Good Seats is greater than or equal to the best of concerts I've ever been to.
Wow. I think I just successfully turned an interesting topic into a dull one. Sorry about that. I'll explain the equation. I went to a concert on Sunday at Orchestra Hall and saw Eric Whitacre directing the St. Olaf choir and VocalEssence. It was the best concert I've ever been to. Easily. Maybe not the most moving (NWC Choir still has the award for most moving concerts), but definitely the best musically and it's up there in emotionality as well.
My favorite pieces were "Cloudburst" (no surprise there. It's amazing. The choir simulates a thunderstorm on stage and mixed with the coolest chords, it's sweet) and "When David Heard." Big surprise there. I've listened to this on a CD before, but never understanding the meaning of the song.
It is a 14 minute version of the verse "When David heard Absalom was slain, he went into his chamber above the gate and wept, saying, "My son, would that I had died instead." For 13 minutes of the piece, the choir is repeating "My son, Absalom" in extremely sorrowful chords.
OK, I know this post is getting long, but I just have one more thing to mention (apart from the fact that I got to meet Eric Whitacre). St. Olaf Choir's sound is . . . perfect. Can I say that? It's about as close as unglorified humans can get. The blend, the tone, the pitch, the phrasing, the dynamics, the overall intensity all make St. Olaf choir fantastic.
4 comments:
I LOVE the equation. I am a music lover and a closet math geek, so it is kind of like worlds colliding for me. Also, it made me laugh.
You got to meet Eric Whitacre?!?! How did that happen???
I heard the St. Olaf choir once. I felt like even if I sat there for a lifetime I would never tire of listening to them. It was the first time in my life that the thought of sitting on a cloud in heaven listening to angelic choirs for all of eternity* didn't sound boring.
*This is not what I think heaven is.
a few thoughts:
1. yay that you got to go to such an amazing concert.
2. boo that i did not.
3. yay that we saw you afterwards! that was random. especially because we had seen a few oles before then while driving down the street and i said, "hey, i wonder if we'll see warren and his friends." and then we did.
4. eva-i LOVE that you know who eric whitacre is. awesome.
5. i'm glad you liked ole choir. they are indeed very close to perfect musically. that comes from lots and lots of rehearsal time and the most intense auditioning process you'll ever be in.
6. i hope you waved to them like i told you to.
7. is e.w. nice? i entirely expect him to be and would be very dissappointed with him should he be a snob.
8. is there a CD of this concert?
9. i'm still jealous that you got to go and i didn't. have fun at home.
Coincidentally, I recently went to a Concordia choir concert where they sang "when David Heard" and it was incredibly powerful. Glad you had such a great experience!
(p.s., this is Steve)
Laurel,
I did not know who Eric Whitacre was until Warren mentioned him a few weeks ago in reference to this concert. Sorry to disappoint.
Eva
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