Cloudburst
Eric WHITACRE (b.1970)
Commissioned for
the 2002 Indiana All-State Band, Cloudburst
is an adaptation of Whitacre's acclaimed choral work of the same name. Lush and
luminescent, Cloudburst combines hand
bells, thunder sheets and the audience (snapping their fingers), transforming
the entire theater into a magnificent thunderstorm.
Cloudburst,
composed when Eric Whitacre was only 23, flows seamlessly from dense complex
harmonies into broad, vertical explosions of full, sonorous power, to a cascade
of percussive effects. The Cloudburst is a ceremony, a
celebration of the unleashed kinetic energy in all things. The mood throughout
is reverent, meditative and centered. This does not imply solemn or calm; it
simply means the performer must take the spiritual journey with total respect
for the power of the water and the profundity of the rebirth.
Its music captures,
in sound, the mystical qualities and raw power of thunderstorms. Complete with
thunder sheets and extended choral techniques such as finger snapping and
clapping to simulate rain, this work is set against the poetry of Mexican poet
Octavio Paz. In Etruscan life, the practice of divining the will of the gods
through interpretation of lightning played a significant role in understanding
and predicting the future. The text, while written centuries after the Etruscan
civilization existed, nevertheless describes a mystical relationship to nature
that pervaded Etruscan religious practices.