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I dunno if you guys have ever heard of him, but there’s a man named Eric Whitacre who composes for wind ensembles and chorus. He’s written a lot of really good songs, namely “Ghost Train”, “October”, “Waternight”, “Clouburst”, and that’s just to name a few. Well, if you’re interested, his website is http://www.ericwhitacre.com I’m a huge fan of his, so it was a big deal to me when I found out a relative of mine is a friend of a relative of his, so I immediately set up a meeting between us over lunch.
It was so much fun. He’s definitely one of the coolest and most brilliant people I’ve ever met. But anyway, of course Danny Elfman was brought up into the conversation by me, and then he told me that he actually got to sit in on a recording session with Danny! He didn’t tell me exactly what movie it was, but he told me a few things about Danny.
Apparently Danny is the most laid-back, calmest guy ever. There was people telling him what they wanted like crazy, and he was just sittin back with a smile nodding. And there was apparently just a lot of people yelling things and a lot of craziness, but he was the only one not stressed out, just sitting and havin a relaxin’ old time.
Well, that’s pretty much all that he told me, and I know it’s not very interesting in any way, and most likely not something you guys haven’t heard before, but it was interesting hearing about it from someone that was actually there, in his presence. Just thought I’d share.
Lastly, I would like to definitely suggest that you guys listen to some of Eric Whitacre’s stuff. From one Danny fan to another, he’s AMAZING.
Cool. Danny’s always seemed like laid back guy to me, except in those AOL interviews.
I’ll check out Eric Whitacre!OH MY GOSH . . . Normally I get so sick of posts like this (“I like this composer, go listen to him”), but I checked this one out, and god, you’re right. This is incredible stuff here. I loved Equus, and Godzilla Eats Las Vegas not only made me giggle and feel giddy, but made me cry because I’m not in any bands or orchestras anymore (at least, not until bassoons become dirt cheap or until rental price is reduced from the ungodly sum of somewhere around $75/mo).
“Noisy Wheels of Joy” sounds EXTREMELY Elfman-influenced to me.
This guy is truly amazing! I don’t know why on earth he isn’t writing for films, or at least more famous. v. good stuff, thanks sleepy!
>:oD
The JUgh, Whitacre, despite being a nice, personable guy, isn’t fit to carry Elfman’s gamelan cases. I like the first movement of Ghost Train well enough (in its original version; when it became part of a trilogy the tacked on transitions screw up the shape), but even that is a second-generation riff on Mancini harmonies. And it gets worse from there. October is disrespectful rehash of Newman’s Shawshank score; Godzilla is a unstructured mockery of Herrmann-esque sci-fi staples; etc.
Like I say, Whitacre is a nice guy, but he’s no composer. He’s not working in film because he’s already pillaged the film world for his band music. He may claim to be a fan of film music, but he’s reaching for a second hand fame perched atop the shoulders of composers like Elfman – composers who are genuinely innovative and who have their own voices. Sorry, I don’t intend to be mean spirited, but Whitacre hasn’t got much to say musically, and has built a mini-career passing off pastiches of actual artists. Kind of gets my dander up.
Well I like him.
Also, when I talked to him, he told me that he had actually done the score for a couple of films, cause that’s what he originally wanted to do, but found that he wasn’t able to be as free and creative as he wanted to be, like there was too many restraints on his idea with the music, so he quit. What he’s most into now is composing music for chorus, although he’s involved with a huge project right now, which is something amazing. It’s called Opera Electronica, which is basically Paradise Lost as an opera but with electronic and techno beats. It actually sounds like it’s gonna be pretty dang cool. If you wanna know more about THAT, the website is http://www.paradiselosttheopera.com
Anyway, I want to apologize that this thread eventually steered away from Danny. It was never my intention. But I am, however, glad that you guys gave Whitacre a chance, because he’s definitely worth listening to, in my opinion. Whether he steals stuff or not, or whatever your problem is that you may have with him, I don’t care. I don’t care because when I listen to his music, it makes me happy. Some of the things that I’ve heard by him are some of the most beautiful, wonderful pieces of concert music that I’ve heard in a great while, and I’m glad that he writes, because it’s kinda like he’s writing for me. It’s what I yearn to hear. But Danny will always be my number 1 composer, no doubt. Danny’s music is wonderful beyond words, and my love for it cannot be paralleled.
i LOVE LOVE eric whitacre …. we actually keep in touch ( was a speaker at my music camp) he is sucha nice guy and an amazing composer. I’ve played most of his symphonic stuff like godzilla , noisey wheels of joy , goldburts and ghost train. You all shoud really check him out!
Eric Whitacre is Great! For sure, I’ve had his music for a long time now. There’s something to be sais for people who like one thing, will prob. like another, it was a GREAT suggestion. Plus here in the states, you have more musicians coming from wind ensembles than orchestras anyways. I think if people just knew what a wind ensemble could do!!! It can be and is, when written proberly, as affective as an orchestra w/out strings! I just wish film composers, more of them, would write for performance. ESP ELFMAN! If he wrote a piano concerto I’d probably freak out and make my fingers bleed learning it, because I know it would be awesome!
oh…eric whitacre.Neva hoid of ‘im. Hey you can’t knock real musicians, man…these guys really hone their craft and produce magic…if it wasn’t for this stuff, man life would be boring as hell…
tumbleweed wrote:
> Hey you can’t knock real
> musicians, man…these guys really hone their craft and produce
> magic…if it wasn’t for this stuff, man life would be boring
> as hell…Have truer words ever been spoken? Good call, TW.
Burt
His choral work is pretty amazing!
well, it would be…thank you.
but i dont know about eric whitacre…i can’t seem to hear any of his stuff…my computer sucks.
I adore Whitacre. Being a huge fan of wind ensemble music – as well as a member of several – I thoroughly enjoy his work. I just played “Ghost Train” with an ensemble last year; I absolutely loved it. Great adrenaline rush! Thanks Burt and Tumbleweed for your comments about musicians; much appreciated!
-E
well, i got that stuff in my blood, so i can’t be a hater, y’know?
Yeah, I do know. I am a musician, and have been all my life, so it’s not like I’m just sayin’ that, you dig?
Burt
elf wrote:
>he’s not that great like. calm down.Well, I think he’s great, no, AMAZING… so, I’m completely allowed to be excited! And thankyou, Sleepy, for telling us about this guy – I’ll probably be obsessed with him for the next 6 months, now, reading every shred of his internet presence… there goes all my free time.
>:o)
The J(I’ve just realised that could’ve come across rudely – that wasn’t a sarcastic thankyou, by the way!)
Eric Whitacre is one of the best orchestral and concert writers of our time. You will have great difficulty finding someone as wonderfully talented as he is, and also with as much feeling in the music as one would expect from great composers such as Mozart, Beethoven, and Bach. I play trumpet in my wind ensemble for my high school and right now we are working on Eric’s “Cloudburst” wich is just an amazing piece of art. You have to be very very talented to be able to pull off such discordant notes as he does. If you want a piece that isnt very challenging rhythmecally, but challenging tone-wise, give this piece a try/listen. It is just insane. Another piece I NEED to play before i graduate is Eric’s “October.” This song has range, solos (baritone baby, whoo!), and of course tons of harmonics. So if u need to get some stuff for a good ol’ band with great sound, or even just for sight-reading and later use, give both of them a listen. This man is incredible.
where the hell do you get this guy’s stuff? Man, i can’t even hear any of his work on the site…retardation commence!
This is the best place on the web I have found to buy symphonic wind ensemble (band) music!
http://westcoastmusicservice.com/index.html
Happy hunting!
Nat
Well Well Well, the way that i see it. . . Film music is way to over-rated. sure there are some great ones like Silvestri,horner, Zimmer and such. . but namely Whitacre is an unbelievable composer. . . He’s the youngest recipient to a very pristegious composing award (forgot what it was) onwards, musically he’s great, i would have to say the greatest of our time, at the time being. oh yea, he’s not an orchestral person he doesn’t write for it. i would go on but i don’t really want too, so bash him or say that he isn’t that great go ahead. . but i don’t see why you can say that. . try and back it up.
Okay, granted I’m a newcomer to this discussion, but allow me to offer my take on the matter of Eric Whitacre.
Not quite a year ago, our local high school a cappella ensemble performed a work of Eric’s: “Sleep.” As a former high school and college choralist myself, I was VERY much impressed, as much with the richness, delicacy and complexity of the work as with these young kids’ ability to represent it on stage. The work so stuck in my head that I decided to dig into him a bit to see if Eric’s handiwork had been professionally performed and recorded. In fact, it HAD, and after a few fits and starts, I came up with a copy of his complete a cappella words, 1991-2001, on the ArsisAudio label..
Not to put too fine a point on it, but this CD is, in a word, astonishing! Every song makes its own statement, unique and impressive. Eric uses dense harmonies, almost dissonant sometimes, though the term occurs to me: “euphonic dissonance (!)” to describe the quality of the tonal character sometimes found within his work. Each song is written to the words he has found and intimately merged melody to. Equal kudoes should be directed to the Brigham Young University Singers, whose performance might rightly be considered technically faultless and artistically inspired. I find myself listening to this CD regularly, both for enjoyment as well as a sonic reference (yes, I AM a dirty-word audiophile!). For anyone who is even remotely interested in choral music, I recommend this work without hesitation and recommend the following location as the fastest way to get it:
Look under “Choral” and you’ll find it.
I have NOT heard any of Eric’s orchestral handiwork as yet, though I hope to sometime, and if anyone has any recommendations as to performances and specific CD’s, I’d like to hear them.
My $0.02 worth.
Loren
I am also an Eric Whitacre fan, and I’ve been tracking the Opera Electronica for about a year, but it seems to have suddenly been put on hold and I’ve not heard any news for months. Does anyone know when and where it is rescheduled to be performed?
Please write me with news!
mrmatthewladams@yahoo.com
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