News & Views Thursday, March 28, 2024

“Nox Aurumque” by Eric Whitacre Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Translated as “Night and Gold,” Nox Aurumque by distinguished composer Eric Whitacre is a companion work to his Lux Aurumque (“Light and Gold”).  With both textual and musical themes taken from Lux Aurumque and the composer's music theater work Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings, this expansive work is indicative of Whitacre's signature style.  Here's the world premiere performance:

Also new from Whitacre is The Stolen Child.  Set to a text by William Butler Yeats, this work was commissioned by the National Youth Choir of Great Britain and The King's Singers to celebrate their 25th and 40th anniversaries, respectively.  The chorus represents the voice of “the human child, innocent and naïve” while the six solo voices represent the “water and the wild,” seducing children away from the world with the promise of endless revelry and eternal youth.  See their moving performance here:

Click here for more music by Eric Whitacre, and contact the choral department for more notable repertoire choices.

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