Eric Whitacre and Voces8 — Home (Decca)

“If I could travel back in time and tell my 20-year-old self, this will be your life; you'll be a classical choral composer. I just never could have imagined it,” Eric Whitacre says.

“‘Go Lovely Rose’ is the first piece I wrote. I remember hearing it being sung live in the room. That's the day I knew I would be a composer,” he says, still realizing his dreams 30 years later.

That first composition is featured on his new recording, Home, in collaboration with the British vocal ensemble Voces8.

Why did you call the album Home?

“On one level, it is referenced in a couple of the pieces on the album, specifically in Sacred Veil. It's the major theme and the final words of the entire piece. ‘Welcome home, my child. Welcome home.’”

What do you admire most about Voces8?

“It's their technical acumen. They're spectacular musicians. They sing with such purity and clarity. They sing so selflessly as a group. But there's this deeper thing going on, this kind of emotional intelligence that they have. I knew that from the albums, but I didn't really know until I was in the room with them.”

Can you talk about the liner note, ‘This is how I always dreamed it would sound’?

“About 32 years ago, I wrote something close to it, and a version in my head is always playing. It is ‘I always imagined it would be like this.’ I remember the first time we sang through the album, and I thought, ‘Oh, my God, that's it.’ It replaced the version in my head. So now I think about how it should sound. It's just that recording.

“There's something about the transparency of just eight voices. It’s the strength of their purity. It causes these clouds of overtones that, while making the album, send chills down your spine that are just endless.”

To hear the rest of my conversation, click on the extended interview above, or download the extended podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

Resources

Eric Whitacre and VOCES8 — Home (Decca store)

Eric Whitacre and VOCES8 — Home (Amazon)

Eric Whitacre (Official Site)

VOCES8 (Official Site)