Deep Field - Eric Whitacre

Deep Field - Eric Whitacre,
European Premiere
Eric Whitacre, Conductor
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, The BBC Singers, & The BBC Symphony Chorus
The Proms 2015
Royal Albert Hall, London
August 14, 2015

[@jck1794]

I quite literally feel in space listening to this.

[@allenrussell1947]

Everytime I find something by Eric Whitacre to listen to I am amazed. Every time. He is a performance genius.

[@creativemusicmakingworksho2128]

I was enjoying the transcendental beauty of this, then suddenly 18 minutes in I get an ad telling me how to get ripped.

[@maryannruprecht2200]

Thanks for the warning....I braced for the sudden interruption of this wonderful peaceful music...Maybe your comment three years ago “made a difference” 😇 There were no ads...😌

[@marietteestabrook4098]

You tube is the worst for this!

[@cappie2000]

I can never look at the night sky and milky way again and NOT hear this music in my head.. Eric Whitacre, you are the voice of the universe.. _o_

[@neifert7]

So God successfully sent Eric a transcription of what the music is for the entrance of Heaven. Beautiful work Eric Whitacre.

[@wesleycolemanmusic]

@@romainbornes22 He's got a technical advantage since he owns an angel choir. Hmm...

[@jdm11060]

@@romainbornes22 why can't you just let someone express how a piece of art makes them feel without trying to condescend? It seems especially out of place and inappropriate considering the incredible reverence and majesty of the music.

[@pikachuchujelly7628]

Now this is some contemporary classical music that actually sounds good!

[@hannahp7252]

It amazes me how innovative this man is. From virtual choir to creating an app that allows the audience to be a part of a sound that is bigger than themselves. Eric's innovations just amaze me, and on top of it all, he creates the most interesting, haunting, captivating, and beautiful music. As a teen myself I find him to be such an inspiration. :)

[@12345Brisk]

What's the app called?

[@james_subosits]

12345Brisk Deep Field

[@jhope6589]

Same

[@KrisKringle14]

Why is this music so fascinating? Is it because it is ... post minimalism...? ... neo romanticism...?... sounding like movie score Music...? ... like Bruckner in slow motion...? It is all of that, and much more. Many European critics will not regard this as "new music". But where can we go in an age where almost every possible sound and disharmony has been tried out by contemporary composers? To me Eric Whitacre is truly one of the real great 21st century composers. And his greatness lies in the fact that he is a seeker. A seeker after the mystery of life. And Whitacre transforms this seeking process into the mystery of Music... I was blown away from the 1st Moment!

[@AntoniSchonken]

+KrisKringle14 There is something quintessentially American in the sound of this work. Something like Adams, but also not. The beginning reminds me of some moments in Glass's Koyaanisqatsi, but also not. Definitely some film influence (Zimmer?), but also not. There aren't real themes here, or rhythms, as if the music has been reduced to its minimum elements. It seems to me to be a celebration of sound. Which I love. (I agree with you, as some reviews have also shown, that the European critics have no idea where to go with this. I think they find it hard to accept that music and composers have moved on from their aesthetically overburdened sound-vomit.)

[@wowbaggerfan]

+KrisKringle14 Completely agree with you, KrisKringle14! I've just caught up with the Proms performance and was completely captivated. A subtle balance of simple and complex, like a mixture of Ligeti and Glass filtered through the ears of Debussy and Sibelius. Definitely worth exploring more!

[@Bozothcow]

It almost sounds like the beginning of an Interstellar theme the entire way through. Somehow it captivates without actually doing anything -- there's something intriguing about it.

[@charlesdbarber]

+KrisKringle14 Here, here! Nothing else to add.

[@positivistnullifidian3624]

+Antoni Schonken Agreed, quintessentially American. And yet the lad from Reno, who registered for choir at UNLV in order to meet girls, is first and foremost a choral composer. True, his instrumental works such as Deep Field and Ghost Train are wonderful, but Eric Whitacre's forte is choral music, and he is one of the most performed composers of choral music of our time.

[@brainrussell6811]

Somewhere in the ether, Holst is giving EW a standing ovation.

[@jhope6589]

Right!!

[@swalea6507]

Ikr

[@lesliecolyer_brown6208]

The violin pianissimo starts at 17:40. By 17:46 I found myself holding my breath. I also loved the "surround sound" effect of the choir being in the audience. The ending . . . his fluid conducting to a pianississimo and holding the silence . . . stunning.

[@AntoniSchonken]

I'm glad that once again a composer is celebrating those massively majestic and overwhelming sound capabilities of the orchestra that make it such a unique and expressive instrument. What an awesome experience it must be to play and perform!

[@russedav5]

True. I dream of what it would be like for him to grace the largely ignored great pipe organ I love with his great gift. E.g. kzbin.info/www/bejne/hqOrXq15f7KVbdU

[@alexpetch8211]

Deep field. The terrifying deep bleeding crescendo's ! Such beautiful use of the orchestra. It took me somewhere new , amazing. I would love to experience this live

[@alexpetch8211]

yep, Its quite something live. One of those moments you could just die in and be perfectly fine

[@miguelastor1]

Beautiful modern music.

[@AustrianDruMMer]

That part with the smartphones and the choir was astonishing!!!

[@jessjoan5080]

I was at one of his first performances of this song. It was haunting how on cue the cell phones were.

[@rnspowell]

The most astounding piece of classical work I have heard in a long time. Beautiful to say the least.

[@cameronsaari3122]

It has been a long time since a piece has touched me like this one just did.

[@Wired2X]

Eric could totally score the next Halo game and it would be incredible.

[@Q9870987]

+Craig VanVickle That's EXACTLY what I was thinking

[@jakobcurtis6180]

+Craig VanVickle Had a lecture from him today at Shenandoah University. Someone asked him about video game scoring (as he's recently worked with Hans Zimmer on certain film scores). He said he couldn't speak about the game specifically today, but next month it'll be publicly released to which game he is composing for.

[@culbycove4963]

WHAT GAME WAS IT FOR :D

[@angelaelias4885]

so funny

[@galaxyofreesesking2124]

RIIIIIIGHT???

[@ToldYouSoDidnti]

Listened to this driving from Santa Fe, NM to Espanola, NM - amazing and captivating - so enjoyable, thank you!

[@sarazorz]

If you could hear the creation of the universe, it would sound like this.

[@elicuchiahora]

I just can say wow! How creative, captivating, what a storyline, how smooth the appearance of the choir, how recognizable his sound since the beginning of the piece..... That's why he's my favorite composer alive!!!

[@dennisrice2763]

What a wonderful way to be awed, to be bathed, to be lost.

[@bryanmay4118]

Just saw the Dallas winds perform the world premiere of the wind arrangement of this.....it was absolutely incredible. One of the most incredible musical experiences of my life.

[@wesleycolemanmusic]

Makes me so inspired. He is such a talented composer!

[@ToastedCigar]

He is such a genius. His sound reminds me of so many different things, from the great British composers to contemporary film music. Music doesn't have to be completely atonal and unapproachable to be innovative, which sadly seems to be the case in many scholars' minds.

[@shodanart]

Well said!!

[@modelwarren]

Absolutely breathtaking

[@juliaholman561]

I will never cease to be amazed by the craftsmanship of Eric Whitacre. Every piece has so much beauty to offer, and the eloquence of this just takes my breath away!

[@MichaelUrie1996]

Virtual Choir 5 here I come!

[@mikefuller6959]

Absolutely SENSATIONAL! I don't know what to put next on 'You Tube' as it won't be as good!

[@glasshalffull4061]

Absolute GENIUS!

[@austinbradley9864]

You know people like Eric Whitacre don't come around every day he's the kind of person that comes around probably every other lifetime. Now most of the stuff that I've heard I think it's fantastic and yeah you can say that I am very favorable of Mr Whitacre including the two virtual choirs that I was blessed to do.But now you people who are so critical and so negative about anything and anyone how about you go and do something like that this brother he is doing put it on KZbin and let us listen to what it is you got and let's see what it is that we have to say about you because what God has given Mr Whitacre you can't take it away from him and he's probably one of the most gifted composers I've ever come across.

[@mosart7025]

His conducting is so fluid... like dancing.

[@willcowan8487]

The horn player at 8:47, just yes

[@bassoonmom8914]

Supposed to be performing this piece in early April 2020. Let's hope concert halls are open again.

[@grover173]

Just lovely. Has a very "Lark Ascending" feel to it for me, which really makes it resonate.

[@sherlockholmeslives.1605]

GENIUS! I'd honestly put this up there with Gustav Mahler, Richard Wagner, Ralph Vaughan-Wiliams, Gyorgy Ligeti, Harrison Birtwistle and Gustav Holst!

[@brandenburg05]

And putting the chorus in the aisles for a surrounding sound is seriously clever, as well. Perfect use of the venue to perform the piece.

[@sherlockholmeslives.1605]

Yea! Absolutely, Kev! It also involves the audience in a way they will remember all their lives! Happy Christmas! Cheers - Mike.

[@galaxyofreesesking2124]

It simply left me speechless.

[@Ardjano234]

Haven't heard of Birtwistle, any recommendations?

[@Joggelschorsch]

It's cleverly put together, but not close to Mahler and the others. It's a lot of repeating patterns with crescendi and decresendi... there's so much more harmonically and melodically material in Mahler, holst etc

[@MariaPetrovaNYC]

Because we are cosmic beings, all journeys are cosmic, but none as beautiful

[@Adian00]

Yes

[@swalea6507]

Yeah

[@denissalvini291]

Simply ASTONISHING!

[@angipang]

I'm thrilled by so much adulation for Eric's music. His critics just don't get him and think he has peaked. We first need to recognize that Eric got a late start and set his true musical course at an age about ten or so years older than most successful artists do. That means Eric will reach the peak of his creative genius at a period of much greater maturity than most of us. So, my guess is, he's just getting started. Second, I see in Eric a perfect illustration to explain how I understand the development of artists. I believe the developmental influences of most creative people, from musicians to entrepreneurs, can be grouped into two general categories roughly parallel with what can be very clearly seen, for instance, in the general difference between the old so-called northern and southern schools of Chinese painters. The northern school artists tended to be professional, often patronized, tradesmen conforming fundamentally, throughout their artistic lives, to the structured training of masters. For the most part, they tended to only personalize their art by exploring interesting but naturally occurring perspectives of reality. That’s a very rough and simplified definition but good enough for my purpose here. The southern school artists were typically scholars (thus often called “literati”) and were often aristocratic or otherwise free of constraint. They, of course, faithfully utilized basic artistic conventions but tended to be more introspective and self-expressive exploring unique ways to portray their relationship to reality instead of using only classical forms to exquisitely portray reality itself like the northern school. I see Eric Whitacre as being among those fortunate artists whose development is in the ongoing, balanced care of both influences. He has the passion and freedom of unfettered, creative expression of his inner life as well as his outward perspective. But his creative impulse is also shepherded and empowered by tools and influence continually gleaned from masters and other artists. That’s an ideal formula for potential. As moving, beautiful, and popular as Eric’s first 20 years of work has been, imagine what the next 20 will teach him and in what new directions his creativity will go!

[@asdercks]

BRAVO!!!!!!!!

[@DangerousDac]

I want Star Trek to sound like this again.

[@hilarylewis7017]

The people of the world don't know what they're missing!

[@jssherrard]

Stunning! Gorgeous!

[@dbuckleytv]

I'm just waiting for Eric Whitacre to score Christopher Nolan's next film.

[@juditveres_hearts]

Oh, yes please! Totally! Badass idea!

[@ingorichter649]

Oh Yes, this may work ! By the way: Now I assume to understand that Ludwig Göransson may be inspired from here. ... 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@Scriabin_fan]

I need to see the score for this piece.

[@dennisdesormier6886]

I wonder: does some of the critique of this piece in comments calling it "film music" derive from it being somewhat non-melody focused? Much of Whitacre's music does not focus on melody line, at least not in the short-term linear sense, and I feel like that doesn't disqualify it as outstanding music. Moreover, film scoring is every bit as serious as church music, chamber music, etc. So this is not much of an accusation.

[@mariezenaida]

Beautiful

[@J0SERAMON]

La monotonía y el aburrimiento, vencen a mi interés por seguir escuchándolo.

[@TupmaniaTurning]

Absolutely stonking stuff. Thanks for posting the recording; thought I'd never see the performance again thanks to the Beeb only making it available for a short time. Wonderful.

[@内田ガネーシュ]

Out of this world。I was grinning the entire time。When the people were taking photos I was thinking of supernovas exploding and quasars glowing。If not for that iPhone ５、It was quite down to earth。A true cosmic melody。

[@WaftyHippyLass]

Thanks so much for uploading this. :)

[@gorgeou8]

I am more amazed at how any musician can follow his conducting style. He looks like he's just randomly waving his baton.

[@petesake1299]

Can imagine Eric leading us out into the unknown to colonise the unfathomable far reaches of the universe! A truly inspired and beautiful piece of music. If there was ever a work which invokes the eternal majesty of the heavens then this must be it. Agree with Mike Fuller. Almost a classical masterpiece but for the choir mocking it at the end. Whitacre turned tail and ran back to the familiarity of human voices lol! It was a little disturbing when I begin to realise I didn't know any more where the starting point had been ..... space truly is eternal such is our God.

[@NightWanderer31415]

Ending it with a choir makes it all the more beautiful for me. For all the majesty and infinite expanse of the Universe, we are reminded that, in the end, it is each other that we must care about the most.

[@llk3763]

Incredible!

[@IfYouWannaSingOut]

This performance actually took place on Sunday, Aug. 9. (I was there!)

[@borisd5260]

Woah..

[@allenrussell1947]

I would have loved to have heard this performance live.

[@lluhsnimnyrhtak]

@@allenrussell1947 Saw this in Cardiff. It made me feel that the rest of my life I had been dead. This was mindbending.

[@mikefuller6959]

GENIUS!

[@ChaplainAcosta]

It's beautiful somehow. Yet it feels like movie music in that it always sound s like something is about to happen and nothing happens for a really, really long time (around 15:00). On the other hand, if you're talking about the deep of space, then it would have to take a really tong time for something to *happen* musically to depict that. So patience is important in listening to this piece.

[@williamwaller4377]

THAT STROKE AT 15:36 ...my God...

[@bruceboa4896]

This is the first chapter of the Silmarillion - easily fits the beautiful narrative of universe creation through the music of the Ainur, to include Melkor arising in might with the discord and power fighting the main theme - Yet Eru stands with a stern face and the sheer power of his music humbles all of the Ainur... and they were silent in reverence...

[@connorskeeters8981]

This is amazing but i can not listen to this while writing an essay.

[@dianamarcekova9615]

Maybe you shouldn't be writing an essay then.

[@erick-gd7wo]

The ending might have been inspired by Gustav Holst, The Neptune

[@AbrahamLincoln4]

who ever thought of putting ads in the middle of this masterpiece should get kicked in the balls.

[@firebrain2991]

Truly captivating. I got lost in the music, and at the end I wondered "did it ever start?" Technically nonsensical as such a question is, it is the phrase that I believe best describes the feeling.

[@cappie2000]

wow... breathtaking...

[@jamesbarclay9265]

And right in the last quarter of one of the most exquisite performances at the 2015 Proms at Royal Albert Hall and the choir singing, Eric Whitaker himself conducting, here Joe Biden comes a-begging. Anyway, I am very grateful to all. Thank you.

[@tfeledy]

The app is "Deep Field." It is still available on iTunes, and perhaps also on the Android platform.

[@santokawine6468]

This piece of music is probably the best representation of God I've ever encountered. And that's that.

[@ingorichter649]

Music beyond Ligeti ❤

[@wintermariedobrez2751]

AMaziN

[@nickschmidt35]

Did anyone else notice how at around 3:20 it sounds like audio files played backwards? I really hope he did that on purpose because that's such a cool idea

[@franzflemming]

+Nick Schmidt thought the same!

[@mrvengeance510]

at 15:23 I hear Pines of Rome in the upper woodwinds especially.

[@ChezFeroce]

Why is it that when 1 person coughs, everyone also feels the freedom to cough right after?! What is this, a cough language?!!?

[@isaiahbaggett2758]

+ChezFeroce it's a cocaughony of sound is what it is.

[@lievedesplenter7781]

+ChezFeroce It is because they can't handle the silence...

[@irbest6148]

+Lieve Desplenter Enjoy the Silence

[@milestemp]

If you can't stand an occasional cough then perhaps live music isn't for you.

[@grover173]

I have noticed this happens in cube farms as well. Coughing and throat-clearing seem to be as contagious as yawning.

[@Ari-vk1lx]

Nothing is better than Whitacre!

[@susanflakes6968]

Rest after you have reached out to your trusted ones to come help you. they miss you anyway and they love, respect abd are loyal. This is just for you and I to get together in safety and see this through. It will have great reward...rest..but reach out like you know how to do. I am praying...you will RECOVER ALL 1 Samuel 30:18 in JESUS nane! Thank YOU! LORD!...

[@LifeRaft-nv5xi]

SO GOOD! Eric Whitacre is my inspiration to become a musician. I love his music with a passion. It's so unique

[@marvinzungu]

Amazing!!!

[@bogdanshevchenko]

So much similarity with Gliere's Ilya Muromets symphony. But I'm not even mad.

[@syrys1]

I had the great good fortune to be at this concert. It was everything that from start to finish this composition was pure, heartfelt, honest and beautiful. London pro musicians can be cynical and keen to get out of the door...but I could reach out and touch the involvement and commitment here (I simply wish that I had not seen the review in the Telegraph that followed. It felt like porn by comparison and it sullied my brain - well done John Allison, what have you ever done for the world?)

[@KinkyLettuce]

this guy is so fucking acomplished

[@kwabzycomposer]

15:57 Eric Whitacre: HOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (also this piece is fantastic!)

[@itsjustnopinionok]

If you see the video of the galaxies this is matched to you will see why he does it. Its amazing to see galaxies in their tens of thousands behind already tens of thousands of galaxies. God is awesome.

[@usievents]

For those who wants more insight about Eric's Virtual Choir, here is its Keynote when he came to Paris : kzbin.info/www/bejne/anPEd5KVp92UqKs

[@DVHdrums]

If you don't have a cathartic experience at 16:03, are you even alive?

[@jayherring3227]

brilliant

[@lightscenters111]

Eric Whitacre, please write a whole symphony with this as one of the pieces in it. This is so beautiful, I would purchase it immediately so I could listen to the whole thing. Please. I think Lux Auramaure(sp) should be in it also.. and Alleluia also.

[@ingorichter649]

A symphony ? Wow - this could be a outstanding work beside Goldenthal's Fire Paper Water and Sakamoto's Discord and - of coarse - a real milestone breathing the spirit of Mahler. Yessss, a symphony by this composer may propell the music history enormously. 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🎵👍

[@elwynjones763]

This is my kind of music. Is it available on DVD or Blu-ray

[@valeriydenisenko1585]

это восхитительно!!!!!!

[@BlueMewSings3]

Sublime.

[@kaelonroache8240]

2:35...Woah like, what. Thats awesome

[@Zethonring23]

This was better than the score for Interstellar

[@StocksIn60Seconds]

Duh. Lol.

[@mason0448]

mr vengeance Well that's jumping the gun isn't it? lol

[@cllpz916]

how dare you

[@adart2496]

This is what I would call Finale/Garritan to 90 piece orchestra balderdash. Now don't get me wrong, knowing how to orchestrate the tension between half steps is not without value, it's just that here it feels essentially like sound design because Eric has chosen patently cinematic harmonic coordinates to alight upon and left it at that. Finding those resting places is the easy part of composing.

[@matycee]

I love EW... however it's possible to understand criticism against his unique take. This though is particularly hallowed. Bravo, sir.

[@izzuddinabdullah164]

This man is my favorite besides Hans Zimmer

[@warrenmcfadden3918]

its one thing to listen to his work it's another to play his music I play a Bb tuba and we played October my sr yr of high school and there are moments while performing you feel all the emotions and passion that was put into it and it

[@leslietolson]

Universe Sandbox 3: The Soundtrack

[@dunovancook4805]

I love this song, but so much of its melody remind me of the lick that all I can hear is the lick now 😂

[@susanflakes6968]

OLA...your elongated Spheres..please

[@galaxyofreesesking2124]

This reminds me of Zelda, and some of C418's music so!

[@galaxyofreesesking2124]

Just, absolutely perfect. I'm surprised I didn't hear it in some cool movie.

[@galaxyofreesesking2124]

Truly an _amazing_ song. With the right imagery and plot, it would go great in the mix; and when there is a movie of my ideal plot and setting, it would be touching. However I do not at all mean to be self-centered. This is about the song!

[@Megatronacsbb]

@@galaxyofreesesking2124 would cry if i hear this on the new dune movie

[@galaxyofreesesking2124]

@@Megatronacsbb it's a damn good song in the right setting

[@adart2496]

And, in a weird blond way, he reminds me of Eric Roberts.

[@TheAmazingBudwardo]

Was this, by chance, filmed in an old London sanitarium? Sounds like a TB ward.

[@paulinemarshall6845]

No, it's at the Royal Albert hall, London, played during the Proms season.

[@TheAmazingBudwardo]

Pauline Marshall, I was most likely being sarcastic. :-)

[@larryfulkerson4505]

if you liked Y2K you'll love Y2B