Last year Stephen Layton
and Polyphony gave us a very fine CD
devoted to the music of the American
composer, Morten Lauridsen (b.1943)
review
Now they follow that
up with a programme of music by another,
younger American composer, Eric Whitacre.
Simply as a point of reference I’d say
that anyone who responds positively
to Lauridsen’s music should warm equally
to Whitacre’s muse. I first encountered
his work last year when I reviewed
a CD of Christmas music that included
‘Lux aurumque’, with which this present
CD concludes, I was impressed and intrigued
by the piece so I was keen to explore
Whitacre’s music further with Polyphony’s
help.
Eric Whitacre was born
in Reno, Nevada. In the very good liner
notes accompanying this disc Meurig
Bowen reveals that the young Whitacre
had "a musical upbringing that
matched the lack of focus and patchiness
of most of his contemporaries".
Despite that he was admitted to study
music at the University of Las Vegas,
whence he proceeded to the Juilliard
School of Music in 1995 to study with
John Corigliano and David Diamond.
There is some very
beautiful music on this CD. The harmonies
are often rich and close and to my ears
Whitacre has a real feeling for how
to write for the human voice. I doubt
his music is easy to sing but he makes
no outlandish demands on his singers
and the music unfailingly falls gratefully
on the ear and complements very well
his chosen texts.
I think it’s worth
quoting what Meurig Bowen has to say
about Whitacre’s music. It is very aptly
described thus: "Purity, directness
of expression, a keen sense of climax
and anti-climax, a wide-eyed receptiveness
to moments of ecstasy: these are constants
and key characteristics in [his] often
sublime music. By the standards of the
last century’s more adventurous choral
explorations, it is fundamentally conservative
music, with few surprises or innovations
harmonically or rhythmically."
If the contents of this CD are representative
of Whitacre’s output to date then I
think that verdict is very fair and
accurate. It has to be said that much
of the music is slow moving and listeners
may not want to hear the whole disc
at one setting. But the music always
sounds to me to be expertly crafted
and its sincerity and the ease with
which Whitacre communicates demand respect.
It’s firmly rooted in and respectful
of the traditions, vocabulary and syntax
of Western choral music and none the
worse for that.
The recital opens with
a shrewd choice in the form of a setting
of e.e.Cummings’s poem, ‘i thank You
God for most this amazing day.’ The
effect that Whitacre achieves here is
quite splendid, rising from a quiet,
simple beginning to a burst of fervent
openhearted choral harmonies. It’s memorable
and arresting. Don’t ask me why, since
this is an entirely subjective and instinctive
opinion, but it seems to me that only
an American could have written that
phrase. The rest of the setting lives
up to the promise of the opening. The
other two Cummings pieces are equally
successful. Since the composer himself
has referred to the three pieces as
a cycle I’m a little puzzled as to why
they are separated on the disc but listeners
can programme their players to hear
the settings consecutively.
Whitacre’s skill in
placing and sustaining a climax is evident
in several pieces, not least at the
heart of ‘Sleep’ where the music is
powerful and impressive. Perhaps the
most individual piece on the disc is
‘Cloudburst’ itself. This is the only
piece that involves any instrumental
accompaniment. In this piece more vocal
effects are used than elsewhere but
these add significantly to the range
of Whitacre’s palette of colouring.
At the climax (track 8 from around 6:00)
Whitacre deploys piano, wind chimes,
thunder sheets and handbells and the
singers are also required to clap their
hands, click their fingers and slap
their thighs. This written description
doesn’t begin to do justice to the composer’s
imagination, I readily admit. The climax
is, in fact, overwhelming and creates
the illusion of a tropical rainstorm
with amazing reality. It’s highly original
and effective.
Less effective, I fear,
is the longest piece in the programme,
‘When David heard’. Here, I find, the
trouble is the repetitive nature of
the music. Small musical fragments are
repeated time and again before, it seems,
Whitacre moves on to the next fragment,
which, again, is often the subject of
excessive repetition. I honestly feel
that were the piece to be pruned to
half its length it would be much the
better for it since it contains some
good ideas, such as the impressive hushed
opening. If I may say so, one has only
to think of the infinitely more succinct
setting of the same text, albeit in
a very different idiom, by Thomas Weelkes,
to realise that economy of means and
gesture can be most effective.
However, the remainder
of the programme is much more successful.
I can imagine that the simple and very
beautiful ‘This Marriage’ will become
a popular favourite – and so it should.
‘Lux aurumque’, to which I’ve already
referred, is another fine piece and
I was greatly taken with the grave beauty
of ‘Water Night’, another piece in which
dynamic range and climax are used most
effectively. ‘Her Spirit Soars’ is a
most impressive piece indeed and here
the music is built most convincingly
to a magnificent and ecstatic final
climax.
The singing of Polyphony
under Stephen Layton’s discerning direction
is superb throughout. The recorded sound
is first rate. The choir is recorded
clearly and with just the right amount
of space around the voices. The excellent
notes are provided in English, French
and German and the full texts are supplied.
This is a very fine
disc indeed. I’ve enjoyed it greatly
and now that I’ve had the chance to
sample more of Eric Whitacre’s music
I believe that he’s a highly significant
composer with a very genuine gift for
choral writing and one, moreover, with
that priceless ability to communicate
strongly and effectively with his audience.
I hope that this disc will be widely
heard; it deserves to be. I have absolutely
no hesitation in recommending it.
John Quinn
Polyphony/Stephen Layton. 
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