Cloudburst (Whitacre)

Cloudburst ( in German: cloudburst ) is one of the most famous pieces of the composer and conductor Eric Whitacre, illustrating the flow of a thunderstorm musical.

Formation

Whitacre composed Cloudburst at the age of 21 years in the fall of 1991, while studying at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas. The original version published in 1995, wrote Whitacre for choir with piano accompaniment at the suggestion of conductor Jocelyn Kaye Jensen. The variant for Concert Band was formed in 2001 as a commissioned work for the Indiana Bandmasters Association and was first performed on 16 March 2002 on the Indiana All State Festival. The text comes from the poem by Octavio Paz, El Roto Cántaro Both versions devoted Whitacre J. K. Jensen.

In 2007, a choral version of Cloudburst for the Grammy Award nominee.

Expiration

The first part of the piece of music is a cappella, simple dissonance in the melody are replaced by sequences of notes that are interpreted by each singer in their own pace and use. This is followed by a high-pitched baritone solo, which again follows from an a cappella section. This then escalates under crescendo to the climax of the piece high, the start of the actual storm (The Cloudburst ).

The Cloudburst

Before the thunderstorm a few bars around long relative calm again, then starts with a lightning, followed by thunder, the actual thunderstorm. The choir version of these effects can be created with bells, which have been kept hidden from the audience the singer. By then, accompanied by the piano finger snaps to the end of the play - the audience is included - creates the acoustic impression of rain. By and by all the singers to sing and listen to all the instruments set out.