Water Night

The new album from the critically acclaimed composer Eric Whitacre that will span musical boundaries and an emotional journey of the triumph of the human spirit.

Eric Whitacre s new album Water Night features no less than 7 worldpremiere recordings. Winning a Grammy in 2012 for his firstrecording as both composer and conductor, Light and Gold , this second discfor Decca juxtaposes music written as a young composer alongside brand newrepertoire, choral and orchestral, with different influences and styles.

Rave reviews have accompanied every appearance to date of Eric sprofessional choir, the Eric Whitacre Singers, and they positively shimmer onthese world premiere recordings of Alleluia and Oculi Omnium , the two brandnew works alongside one of the greats of his catalogue, Her Sacred SpiritSoars .

Flashes of Adams and Glass, filmic in part, virtuosic yet erring towardsminimalism, Equus is played by the full forces of the London SymphonyOrchestra. By way of complete contrast, The River Cam is a beautiful,pastoral piece that demonstrates Nevada-born Whitacre s absorption of the worksof Elgar and Vaughan Williams during his time in the UK as a visiting Fellow atCambridge University. The River Cam was written at the invitationof the distinguished cellist, Julian Lloyd Webber, for his 60thbirthday in 2011.

The demand for Eric Whitacre to bring his award-winning musical Paradise Lost to the stage for a full run is vast, but in the meantime, thisnew disc includes his choral arrangement of one of the show s songs Sleep mychild . An unexpected gem in this album is a setting of Goodnight Moon , the multi-million selling American children s book byMargaret Wise Brown (Harper Collins). Written for soprano and strings,this tender piece is performed by Hila Plitmann, a Grammy winning artist withgreat commitment to contemporary music.

The title track, Water Night , is one of Eric Whitacre s most performedworks, heard on this album performed by the strings of the London SymphonyOrchestra.