When David Heard by Eric Whitacre Part 2

[ajinx4u]

speechless its so gorgeous

[mitchelety]

Of course someone would cough at this perfect moment.. @4:54

[Octavoification]

It's a miracle that they only went sharp by 1/2 step considering this was memorized and 686829 hours long.

[dicemanify]

@Octavoification I have the sheet music for this and it has a key change that makes it go 1/2 step sharp

[Octavoification]

@dicemanify Your point being?

[fallenscripture14]

@Octavoification his point is that they didnt go sharp by accident

[Octavoification]

@fallenscripture14 Maybe I'm confused, but I don't think so. I'm actually impressed that they only went sharp a half step considering the length of the work and the fact they've memorized it. STILL, the piece is written to end ends on A E open and they finished on Bflat F. They started to go sharp somewhere toward the finish line. I still think they've done a good job!

[Octavoification]

@dicemanify Yes, I have the music, too. They went slightly sharp. No big deal. IT HAPPENS. lol

[Octavoification]

It is AMAZING...but what nightmare it must be to memorize. THose long pauses and everything similar...it's like.."where am I going again? Where did I just come from? Do I stay on the F this time or do I go to the g now?" LOL

[warpig34]

i cried. absolutely beautiful. thank you.

[TZKRforever]

This song is so amazing....Eric Whitacre's composition is so unique and emotionally drenched. Take such an amazing song down to a small chamber choir like this....it becomes so intimate and omg....I can't even fathom how amazing this is. I love that they don't carry any song binders. The choral piece is so much better with the intimacy it creates between the director and choir.

[dAnCeLiFe149]

The notes in the piece are amazing all by themselves and the people in this video are phenomenal. I have to recommend this to my director because I have to sing this piece!!!!

[yootubeloobe]

Phenomenal. 

[bromanthomas]

1:50 *melts*

[michaeljh07]

@bromanthomas Agreed

[PitboyHarmony1]

I cant stop listening to this

[danwright32]

I cant even begin to describe how beautiful this is. it brings me to tears every time… but I actually do have a question, unrelated to the singing:

how was this filmed, is there an effect that was put on afterwards? (meaning the red edges and how it gets brighter towards the middle), because I would really love to use this effect when I make my own video of this song

[MikeyRich44]

Thank you Ms. Cougher...

[seizetheday224]

How can their voices be so full of emotion, while their faces are blank voids? Anyway, it's still a beautiful recording, I just wish I could see that beauty in their expressions.

[xXJawruWolfXx]

When the Sopranos hit the High C, I cried, so powerful.

[MilitantQuaker]

There was an incredible tenor in there. Bravo

[barberjazz]

At a certain point; arguments about the specific tones that are hit become meaningless.

As horrendously romantic as this makes me sound: the power is in the sum total of the performance, not the strange happenstances that critics derive.

[oreggiobennett]

he made some weird choices in rhythm,, but not bad choices.. my only con is the fact that the choir didn't seem to have an emotional connection with the song.. the smiling that happened really threw off my emotions that i feel when i hear this piece.. and i definately didnt hear enough bass.. their part is important.. it shud be brought out more

[jacquidic]

Speaking as a choral singer (1st soprano) who has lost twin sons, this is the most beautiful piece, so sensitively sung. Bravo.

[pavenos]

Creepy Ανατριχιαστικό

[PhazonX]

My God, to hear what David heard... just amazing.

[hawvichorst2]

@PhazonX Well actually its about when David from the Bible heard that his son has been killed. Actually quite sad

[margotlorena1]

shivers.... nice job!

[MidwestSingerDude]

Holy Jesus. What note does that soprano hit at 1:50? Beautiful throughout this entire song.

[Icyveins906]

@MidwestSingerDude I my perfect pitch isn't absolute yet, but I believe that was a high D#. Coluratura in the house much XD. As a male, the F# below is high enough. I sing countertenor.

[samiam15141]

@Icyveins906 its a high c :) i just got the music for it.

[Icyveins906]

@samiam15141 I checked with a tuner, hmm, the group may have gone a hair sharp up to C# or the director took it up a step to help the young altos. I meant to write C# not D#, finger slipped. Either way, beautiful, LOOOONG work.

[1Co8]

@MidwestSingerDude I don't have perfect pitch, but that sounded more like a C# to me

[PitboyHarmony1]

I live for the day the "Eric Whitacre Singers" perform this, but I knd of doubt it will happen, as Eric himself just cant bring himself to do it. Nicely done Molto

[Jotadh19]

Look at 6:08 and 6:13... the third girl from the left has different hair look!! up and down!!!

I love it so much... amazing...

[standmate]

who's the one idiot that disliked this?

[zakm1995]

1:53......WHOA!!!

[GraceByDeath]

i was crying like a baby by the end of this

thank you for uploading

[gusty26z]

Hermosa obra, muy prolija la direccion y el canto

[gusty26z]

Hermosa obra, muy prolija la dirección y el canto,

[horaciobadano]

Very nice work, and very nice girls as well... 

[JTSHHS]

Who's the person who dislikes this?!?!?!

[fizzaith]

@JTSHHS someone who clicked it by accident.

Or maybe it's that pesky 5th dentist that never agrees with the others...

[bsharpminor03]

@CamXV I wasn't making reference to the purity of the vowels, I was referring to how a non-native singer will not know if their vowel matches the one that a native would expect to hear.

[DmarieS1993]

i love this peice and this choir sounds great nice and pure!

[TheCellopro]

Woow !! I love this music!! This is a very good choir to! I love the 1st soprano!!! i'm just a child but i love this music!!

Congratz!!

[Melanoodis20]

love that 1st soprano!!! so gorgeous. i love this piece and this group of singers

[donotenvy2]

Fabulous.. getting ready to perform this song in a few weeks in New Orleans. I had never heard it until recently. It's stunning. You did a great job.

[andreasheij]

Definitely the most chilling experience I've had in years, listening to this music. Puts me into a mode of listening I've not experienced in years, chills down my spine all the time. Especially at 1:42. Unbelievable! If you ever do this again somewhere closer to home I'm going to come by and listen to it live :-D

[switchitupashley]

I feel as though this choir is very impressive from the perspective of dynamics and blending. Also, the vowel shape not being perfect adds an authentic quality to the piece. In grief, we are not as concerned with the small things. Imperfection in a song of human anguish is the thing that makes this version so exquisite. When David Heard is probably my favorite choral piece of all time.

[Eurofrank1]

An excellent rendition on the whole, particularly from such young choir members! Congratulations everybody!!

[DrumCorpsTube]

I just got the biggest chill at 5:31. Oh my god.

[weez1119]

Wow.

[saprano1ke]

I think you all did an excellent job, sure there were stylistic things that didn't work out like Eric wrote them to be, but to me it doesn't effect the overall performance which was awesome, and very effective in the space you were in. I cried, and got cold chills, and usually that doesn't happen if its not good congrats to you all

[lookyma]

I recently listened to the Polyphony version of this. I couldn't keep from crying. This is an amazing choral piece. Straight from the heart.

[pianomatteo]

pretty decent recording. only problem with such a small choir is that unless you have lungs of steel (polyphony) your breaths become very very noticeable and even distracting. It ends up in some pretty big artistic mistakes. One such part I just noticed, at 5:00-5:55, you are not supposed to breath, (staggered breathing implied) but they take big breathes and make pauses that are quite anti-climactic. once again, good effort, but i think it just isn't the right setting.

[FCO0710]

the only problem with this recording is all the background noise as far as im concerned

[pianomatteo]

@FCO0710 well that is true on a production level, but if you have sung, or worked with the score at all you would also understand what I'm saying. Eric Whitacre writes notes on front page for how to perform the piece, and it says specifically not to breath at many of the points where this group breaths. Obviously this director doesn't have to do that, but it really does produce quite a different effect. ya?

[Lobbelt]

This is absolutely stunning!

[arnolfini26]

jedes register ist in sich so stimmig, so dass dieser tolle sound unterm strich bei rauskommt :o)) wirklich toll!!

im ersten part des stücks zeigen die alti, dass sie im unisono toll harmonieren... wow!!!

ich bin echt begeistert... hab ich das schonmal erwähnt???

:o)

es macht auch sehr großen spaß das dirigat eures chorleiters zu sehen... sehr mitreißend. so muss das sein!!

grüße von einer versierten ;o) sängerin

(ich hasse es, wenn jemand in pausen reinhustet...)

[COALLSTATE07]

this is the first fecent recording that i've heard beside the Polyphony recording on Whitacre's Cloudburst CD. Very impressive... There were some sspots where the sopranos sould have used a little bit more air though... and that's def not a problem in Polyphony.

[pianomatteo]

@COALLSTATE07 Try listening to the BYU recording of this. It is, and always will be Mr. Whitacre's favorite recordings of his work, and even though polyphony has some of the best quality singers i have ever heard in my life, many of stephen layton's interpretations are pretty off.

[LuvHopeDream]

ALSO I noticed that polyphony tuned to a different A than BYU on this Piece. It weirded my ear out. I would agree though about BYU and their recordings. Their blend and sound allow you to enjoy the composition itself and you don't think about the voices you hear when you listen to Polyphony. There are such big voices in this group and Polyphony that you can't completely focus on the song itself.

[pianomatteo]

@LuvHopeDream you're absolutely right. BYU is a big choir and it works nice for this piece in particular because of the big rich blend they produce, also allowing for very smooth staggered breathing. And I agree that polyphony has amazing singers, which might be a setback for whitacre's music i think. good points!

[cinharover]

Ditto with the high sopranos, but the intensity is tremendous, chilling, compelling.

[iskivolkl11]

MY SPEAKERS CAN"T GO LOUD ENOUGH!

[Bridey1]

Simply beautiful. I wish I had been there!

[blindmagi]

Ja... Oh Mein Gott. This is spectacular. I have this song on Whitacre's a capella works CD, but I think this is an even clearer recording. I seriously have goosebumps.

[bsharpminor03]

Very nice. A few of these comments are being overly critical about vowel shapes and the like. Forgetting that singing a piece of music of such difficulty in another language is tremendously hard to do. A choir singing in any other language will have a vowel or two that will not perfectly match a native speaker's expectations. Despite the fore mentioned, this is one of the best recordings I've heard of this setting of Whitacre.

[Actorguy0330]

@bsharpminor03 Overly critical is the perfect term for this self-proclaimed music critics. These kid are amazing.

[kathotheman]

That high soprano! Beautiful! I am in awe.

[blattman9]

Wow is all I'm going to say. I wish I belonged to an ensemble of this caliber.

[splasher75]

Selten hat mich ein Stück Musik so berührt wie dieses. Habe es jetzt schon 10 Mal gehört, habe jedes Mal Gänsehaut. Es ist großartig! Danke daß wir daran teil haben dürfen.

[Stonehenge35]

No words can...

[Barbershop666]

Chills are spiraling throughout my body.

[SourceTwo]

OH MEIN GOTT! Meine Kinnlade ist soeben in den Keller gefallen!!! Respekt dafür, dass ihr euch an dieses Stück heranwagt und noch mehr Respekt für die Umsetzung!!! Das ist wirklich unfassbar gut!!!