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TechnoTV - Eric Whitacre: Cloudburst and Other Choral Works
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List Price: $20.98
Our Price: $13.57
Your Save: $ 7.41 ( 35% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Hyperion UK
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0034571175430
Format: Import
Label: Hyperion UK
Manufacturer: Hyperion UK
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Hyperion UK
Release Date: 2006-02-14
Studio: Hyperion UK
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Glory all around
Comment: What a gorgeous recording this is! The beauty of this music is absolutely stunning, like hearing music for the first time. It's really hard to believe that Whitacre is only 35--the degree of spirituality and depth of feeling here seems the product of a lifetime. And unlike many choral composers, he is not a one-trick pony. Every aspect of every composition is distinctive, even as it is always recognizable as his. And like Arvo Part, you get the overwhelming sense that every note is heartfelt, never calculated, though Whitacre's aesthetic is warmer and less austere than Part's ("Sunburst" would have been a more apt title for the CD). I am also reminded in some ways of the Bulgarian women's choirs: Bulgarian music is full of extreme dissonance, but somehow they make it seem chipper--in the same way Russian composers make minor keys sound happy. Whitacre also has that gift, but in a more profound direction. Whitacre makes dissonance sound ravishingly radiant. And that, to me, is what makes this such a compelling disc. There are composers of choral music who make very beautiful sounds, but it's all consonant and so a bit predictable. It doesn't make me want to listen again and again because I know exactly where it's heading. Whitacre uses a range of tools, both sublimely harmonic and freshly conceived. And when he uses dissonance he does not use it in the usual way, as a passing tone to set up harmonic resolution in the next breath. Instead, his dissonance stands on its own and is gorgeous in its own right--though how he does this is a mystery. And that, I think, is the key to why I want to listen to this CD again and again: it cannot be fully predicted, resolved, or explained neatly--like nature, like beauty itself.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Encore!
Comment: Truly a masterpiece for choir! I am a choral amateur listener, as I just got into it: this is my first choral cd, but I must tell you that it was worth much more than I payed. A beautiful collection of songs by the very talented Eric Whitacre: his harmonies and suspensions will make you fall in love with the music.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Eric Whitacre Cloudburst - a wonderful presentation of his music
Comment: I first heard a Whitacre piece on public radio and had to look him up. His Cloudburst collection is wonderful. Straight tone choral with amazing moving harmonies and dynamics.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A must for every fan of choral music
Comment: This is among the most magnificent choral albums I've ever heard. The works include perhaps the single most moving piece of music I've encountered, "When David Heard." Polyphony provides an absolutely impeccable and profoundly moving performance that is powerful and subtly nuanced. I have been a serious choral singer for more than four decades, and I'm simply blown away by the sheer emotional intensity of Stephen Layton's reading of the piece. The other works on the album range from lovely to charming, but it's "When David Heard" that I find myself playing over and over and over again. Brigham Young University's recording of Whitacre's choral works is generally strong, but Polyphony's performance of "David" leaves BYU's in the dust. I just bought three more copies to give to friends.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Far Superior to BYU
Comment: From the first note of the first song you can tell that you're in for a different experience than from "Eric Whitacre: The complete works"
Polyphony truly displays its mature tone color and sensitivity to the text while at the same time maintaining phrases that leave any first time-or several time- listener breatheless. The only way to describe this entire album is pure joy. I couldn't believe my ears.
A Must have for any music fan.
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Editorial Reviews:
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At the age of only 35, Eric Whitacre has already gained a phenomenal reputation in the United States. The Los Angeles Times described his music as having ‘electric, chilling harmonies; works of unearthly beauty and imagination’ and his Water Night (included on this new recording) has become one of the most popular choral works of the last decade, and is one of the top-selling choral publications of all time.
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