Eric Whitacre and Ole Miss Concert Singers - Lux Aurumque

[hlhs1]

this is justt amazinn! :) Ole Miss Concert Singers has always been great. this is my future college choir, im a senior this year at horn lake high school so im gettinn ready fa auditions lol.

[91BROWNIE91]

wow. i was pleasantly suprised

[afarsea]

One of my favorite Whitacre pieces, wonderfully executed. 

[msbecky630]

Very full sound with so few voices

[levon324561]

i just got chills



[RyaZila24]

3:21 you can hear that upper note being held out stop and come back in...

[Aarikaisinlove]

MAN OH MAN!!! LUCKY I WISH HE WOULD COME TO MY SCHOOL (tears).... :( i wonder how much that would be...

[BlasterBone001]

For a choir that hasn't practiced this song in 14 months this is awesome!! Amazing piece and performance!

[Nikki34609]

I was in a choir that did this and we rocked it just like these guys did

[seanhughes14]

Last comment dose not know a good choir when you hea it then. I hear choirs that would kill for this sound.

[musicman8493]

this is an incredibly tough song, plus like you said, you hadn't sung with it in 14 months, so very very well done!!

you ought to be proud to work with whitacre himself too!

my high school choir is starting this piece soon. sooo excited!!

[galvezbe]

that was beautiful... :)

[sbarton38834]

MSU chamber singers sang this last year... we did it much better. OLE MISS SUCKS!!!! GO STATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[kwbmusicman]

I highly doubt that Boss (aka. Dr. Lesley) would like your slanderous marks against HIS alma matter. Especially since he and I are great friends who often collaborate. Also, too, after speaking with him I know who you are and also know that you weren't in the choir when they did sing this piece (which I'm sure was very good - if I know Bruce - "bad" is not in his repertoire) so if you'd like to keep misrepresenting yourself and the good name of Ole Miss and Mississippi State, by all means do so.

[himrasmus101]

the choir is garbage. how did eric whitacre come here for these garbage singers. jesus. I feel sorry for him, his piece got ruined by a bunch of scrub musicians who dont know the first thing about music besides TRYING to make their voices pretty. Which they are, but no very good.

[TheFlutegirl15]

@himrasmus101 -I hope you're kidding, because this choir sounds a lot better than some I've heard. They have a wonderful men's section, and I don't have anything bad to say about the women's section either, which a lot of non-professional groups on here always have a women's section that has tone and intonation issues. I really appreciate this groups performance. Very few things to fix in my opinion. I would stop making yourself look like an idiot with your comments.

[himrasmus101]

@TheFlutegirl15 they are average at best. look at vocal essence or some better groups. thats what i base them off. this is a very advanced piece of choral work.

[superpiccchick]

@himrasmus101 -I understand that they might only be average, but they are better than a lot of other recordings I've heard. Trust me, I know that Whitacre's music is hard, we've sung one of his pieces every semester for two years minus a semester.

[TheMadSyrupMaker]

@himrasmus101  You are a complete idiot, you wouldn't know a good sound if it bit you in the rump.

[sbarton38834]

actually we sang this piece at state in the fall of 08 and so you should get your facts straight. i am entitled to my own opinion. dont go gettin your panties in a wad! its just youtube!

[maureenl923]

BEAUTIFUL!!

[amuslimextremist]

That is a solid choir! Nice work!!

[lighterhead]

thanks =)

[hyork23]

WHo was the Soprano soloist, I know once D. Frerer sang it, is this her singing. If so she is my chorus teacher...Great!!

[lukeisawsome]

my penis gets hard every time i listen to this

[bandxgeek]

LOL I <3 you.

[sdnotesman]

OK...this crakcs me up!!!

[lukeisawsome]

haha :)

[irra1315]

lolololololololool

[ldrebs]

I am a member of this ensemble, and sang on this night with him. It's too bad you guys didn't get to hear sleep. Working with him was awesome, and he practically forced us to sing this piece. Also, the full choir isn't up there, we had a large number of new people that year who didn't know it.

[Renderello]

this is my 6th time watchin this and i still love it

[rebelboy1225]

Plus... to be the first time to sing it in 14 months, some kind of talent.

[rebelboy1225]

Beautiful... absolutely beautiful.

[pianorob]

I get chills every time I listen to this group sing this...

[lobsterthecannibal]

i'm pretty hard to please when it comes to choirs, ESPECIALLY with this song, (possibly my favorite choral song ever) and i have to say i'm really impressed. you did the song its deserved justice.

[MysteriaPearl]

My highschool's chorale is (ambitiously) doing this. That was absolutely beautiful! The only slight thing I could hear was that the soloist slid up to her high G on the first solo... other than that, it was absolutely amazing for not having done in fourteen months!

[dmbfan2741]

My all men choir of 200 is doing this piece for our Christmas concert. We did it a couple years ago with 18 and it rocked my socks. I can't wait

[NitsujRentip]

This hurts me.

[kwbmusicman]

Why?

[lyzkadocukru]

I agree - I've already heard a better performance of that peace - with better realisation of dynamics, intonation, and so on. However - it's nice to hear it, to have a comparison.

[cathricker]

I love this song!! we just started singing it in chorus, and it's amazing :)

[Crazy4Kitty73]

i wanna hear she weeps over rahoon.

do you have that one?

[JediJonas007]

Wow, we're doing this for our christmas concert...it should be interesting:)

[BlueBomber0]

Omg you guys did so good!!!!!! I love this song!

[princesstay81791]

lux is so much fun to perform when is put together correctly!! i love eric whitacre

[Brythepilgrim]

WOW!!! Such skill and precision.

[kudasango]

wow, what a phenomenal choir! they have beautiful overtones!!

[kathrynmarks]

yes! aren't they amazing? i watched them preform this and my sister and i were in the front row passing tissue to each other! it was so beautiful we just couldn't contain our tears. ole miss rocks! i would be proud to go there.

[retoricalanswers]

the tenors in the beginning at like 00:48 are AMAZING! love that tenor sound

[Perfectisknight]

Man, you guys are awsome

I)

Not long ago, our band played it and it was our fav. piece!

[klickenpod]

haha, he's such a badass with his jacket.. and his creative genius.

You guys sound phenomenal, and it's your hard work, not just his conducting.

[LumosNox]

Really good performance. This is a notoriously difficult piece, but some I can't help thinking that some parts were a bit flat..the top notes mostly.. at first I thought it was the dissonance throwing me off but no.

The soloist is quite impressive as well.

To be conducted by Eric Whitacre himself must have been amazing though. So jealous.

[E2theWill]

DANG! how do they make a sound like that w/ that number of singers?! they sound amazing! I love eric whitacre! =D

[centralguy08]

why would waste whitacre's time on a piece that you havent sang in over a year? as a matter of fact, why would you record a piece that you havent sang in over a year?

[kwbmusicman]

As a mater of fact, Whitacre asked us to sing this piece because he liked us. So, I guess it's not a waste of his time (or ours) like you think. I guess you can make executive decisions when you're in a position to do so. Thanks, and have a splendid day.

[retoricalanswers]

wow, im really happy with how you just totally told that guy off! you are my hero like for real! seriously. and this is beautiful. and eric whitacre is def a hero of mine. grandiose job!

[ukrules89]

damn i shouldve gone to school there

i didnt kno the choirs were that good

and they gave me a scholarship haha

too bad for me

[jookie4]

Ugh the Saprano At 0:36 sounds so awesome

Major Props

=]

[drpeper17]

The sopranoes drown out everyone at the beginning. It was ok, in my opinion.

[cpjds1]

You have any idea about how recordings work? This is a video camera which means a sub-par microphone that picks up highs much better than lows. It's the physics of sound :P I see comments all over choral youtube videos about sopranos being loud. Even if the video was HQ to begin with, youtube strips it's quality to make it fit and the low end is the first thing to go.

[retoricalanswers]

i never thought of it that way.

[pianomatteo]

so true...when you listen to the polyphony recording of whitacre's music... i believe they mic'd each music stand so the basses were mixed in with much more chocolatey richness that you don't usually get with sub-par recordings.

[SomberSinger]

My chamber choir sang this this year. I love Lux <3. The tenors are either sharp or spread, or both, on the calida portion. Other than that, I LOVE your sound! We did this song with a choir of 18. The larger group really changes the feeling of the piece.

[gtgw]

Whitacre composes good songs!

[Guticb]

Our honors band played this for a concert. It's amazing. =D

[singerlad34]

AMAZING tenor section!

[bigchicknugget]

this is pretty okay i guess...the soprano at the beginning totally sucks though...she should give up her day job...this is laura by the way :)

[kwbmusicman]

lol... you're crazy.

[TwinkieTwinFilms]

Um, bigchicknugget, I'm sure that if ERIC WHITACRE himself conducted and directed this piece, then it is perfect. :)

[bigchicknugget]

well, i was in the choir, and the soprano soloist at the beginning, so i was just kidding...i like it allright! ;)

[TwinkieTwinFilms]

Oh! lol okay! :D

[lighterhead]

hotty toddy!

sounds great

[BizCasFri]

Aw man I've played the Wind Ensemble arrangement of this piece and loved it. Whitacre is one of my favourite new composers.

Oh, and good performance. =P

[clrunlimited]

This is amazing!!! I can't believe it was a year and you all just bust it out so great!! This is one of my favorite songs ever!!! So pure and beautiful!!! :)

[bluesinginggirl]

Holy crap you guys are amazing!! KUDOS!!!

[chillywan]

I love this piece! We sang this for the KY district festival and will be singing it for the State festival. It make me hope and pray that we will sound this good!

[JPSaxMan]

He must get such a kick out of seeing one of his compositions being done so beautifully - I know I would! You guys sounded great, for sure...could have used a little more bass, but the sound is amazing, and diction is great too. Nice job!

[TimonyErt03]

What did he say before he started?

[kwbmusicman]

He asked, "This is the first time in a year?"

[kwbmusicman]

He asked, "This is the first time in a year?" And the choir answered, "Yeah."

[TimonyErt03]

Wow! Good job for the first time in a year.

[kwbmusicman]

Oh thanks! We work really hard. :)

[morganzp07]

My high school madrigal choir performed this song under a dome in our local courthouse. The song is sooo beautiful and well done it is by far the best song that Eric Whitacre has written. Absolute genious.

[tenorbois4life]

im singin this for all-state, and the way u guys sang it makes me so excited!

[mandibanana]

Well done. And wow, they are ridiculously lucky to have him come in as a guest conductor and actually conduct his own songs. Genius, I say -that man is genius.

This is probably my favorite Whitacre choral piece, and I'm delighted because now my choir is singing it as well (we did Cloudburst and With A Lily last year).

[shuber86]

They're either really lucky, or well off financially. We tried to get him to come do a clinic for us last year, and he wouldn't do it for anything less than $10,000.

[kwbmusicman]

I was a graduate student last year when he came. I don't know the specifics, but my director/professor told me he was costing a "pretty penny," and that the timing happened to work out for us. I think we'd waited on him for about a year so that his schedule, etc. would work with ours. Anyway, he came, and we did an entire evening concert of his music after two days of working with him. It was really great. The energy he brings with him is astounding.

[kixuloz]

erik whitacre ceases to amaze me. im in love that his music and wellhe is my idol

[theusedisosm]

i love eric whitacre ugh so amazing.

[drumr08]

woops, Whitacre* and I meant to say that this song brought tears to my eyes. Magnificent,amazing, and eloquently written by this genius composer/musician.

[drumr08]

Eric Whitaker's Lux Aurumque is so captivating, beautiful, elegant, and pretty. our band did an instrumental version of this song which was very emotional for me because it was dedicated to my friend's father who passed away recently due to cancer. I cried and it had a large impact on me. Eric Whitaker is amazing and this song's features really connect with your feelings and your heart. <3

[Kilfio]

When I was at the Festival of the Arts competition with my school choir, we saw our Madrigal choir sing Lux. I distinctly remember, when they were walking past us in the backstage hallway, asking "How the heck do you guys do that?!" We were doing Cantate Hodie, Pachelbel's Canon of Peace, and Adeiu, Sweet Amarilis. Good thing the choirs were judged individually. :P

[arr2ssr]

nothing like ole miss.... mr jordan left a gract legacy

[MusicMan1519]

Search for "Lux with a beat" and you'll find my choir spicing things up a bit (you can tell a cappella is big at our school) What a great piece!

[OllieChick]

Eric Whitacre makes me melt....*drools*

Our choir sang this last year and we rocked because we are better than your choir. lol j/k

[gypzyjz]

i wish eric whitacre would come to our school!

p.s. your choir ROCKS!!!

[Shevaron]

Im watching the Mormon Tabernacle sing this right now on PBS.

[sandcrab132]

mormons are freakin creepy

[youshellageydx]

My school's choir did this song for two concerts :D but this one sounds kinda different . Like, the middle part, before the "Canunt" part. o.o But I like how it sounds big :] our choir has over 100 people so of course it sounds big, but the one shown here sounds just as big as ours :D

[XrunsXwithXscizzerzX]

them being in a chapel helps the sound, but yes, they do sound big.

[laharpiste]

i get chills every time i hear this piece... a group at school sang it at the end of our lessons and carols service.... it was absolutely silent in the sanctuary. it was hauntingly beautiful.

[bryceep]

that tenor has a good voice, but he's not blending. This piece, and all of Eric's pieces, are all about the blend and the effect of the music, not the talent of the singers. I heart Eric Whitacre

[mootz09]

Awesome job. Just to be conducted by Eric would be enough to make me happy.

[fangelchild]

Me, too, mootz09! We're doing this for my choir's winter concert, which is in a week! I'm excited! ^^ It's not directed by THE Eric Whitacre, though. :(

[Kilfio]

Take what you can get. :P My school's Madrigal choir sang Lux Aurumque last year, and I hope (when I join next year) our director will do Lux again.

[blueblob150]

omg were doing this song for our choir this christmas.... its sooooooooooo beautiful

[pnoyzfec]

that was sick

[kwbmusicman]

sick in a good way, or sick in a bad one? you never can tell the tone on these things? :)

[pnoyzfec]

sick in a good way. that was amazing.

[hmlclari08]

i wanted to cry....this was soooo beautiful

and real

[paint1487]

the soprano solo @ the start was flawless...

[blckglam]

AMEN

[ProgrammedToDestroy]

it's a beautiful piece, but the vowels need to be rounded a lot more.

perfect intonation, though.

great job. [:

my high school choir is doing this one and water night. eric whitacre is my favorite composer, hands down. [:

[kwbmusicman]

Thanks for the comment. The choir hadn't sung this piece in well over a year before this recording (we did it because Eric wanted to hear it), so it's ok if everything wasn't perfect. He really liked us, though, and I guess that's all that matters.

Good luck with your group! His music is breathtaking! :)

[nysinger516]

I wish they had more bass.

[paint1487]

me 2 :( good bass is hard to find

[veryyes1105]

all i can say is wow....it gies you that chill down your spine that makes u feel like your like going through the gates of heaven. hahha not to offend anyone that doesnt belive in thaty but....yah.....probably the best composer...ever? oh yah and the lake zurich bears are 1st in state for football in illinois......sooooo eat it.

[Kneeah]

omgggggggggggg.... it's so beautiful

[olivedjazzer]

Whitacre's voicings are so insanely perfect that one cannot help but be touched deep within the soul.

On a side note - I like how he is wearing a Paradise Lost hoody. I wish I lived in LA so I could see that thing...sad day.

[Love4MusicGirl03]

responce to brunoredfrog:

i think i know what you said:

i dont know what language that is you wrote in but i know spanish and the words are similar haha

[inveriti]

Portuguese. He said "the music's extremely moving. Whitacre had a great inspiration when he wrote it. I would one day like to compose pieces as wonderful as this. We sang this in our choir. I hope we didn't butcher it [make it ugly]."

I heard my old choir from high school perform this at a gothic-style chapel, and it was the first time a piece of music brought me to tears. Marvelous chord structures. The tenors in this recording are delightfully strong. Hard to get solid tenors sometimes.

[angiexxangie]

Were doing this, too. You all did wonderful!

[Jonaldinho13]

yea um not as good as edison highschool...but it was a 3.5 stars

[Fame88]

I LOVE this song. I remember when we had to sing it in competiton in high school. i still love it.

[cancatis]

Whitacre rocks.

[J0J0D]

the xs is too loud :(

but the song is so beautiful

[crbolen]

actually he (Whitacre) preferred the "X"'s....he says that too many choirs never do it because they're afraid that they won't be on time

[Dink522]

Sorry ask the watch men

[Dink522]

We just got this song today and I love it. We sang Sleep last year, Also sing ask the wake men, wake awake

[anamtz32]

amazing... brings back the memories of high school UIL! straight 1's in concert!! :-D loved this piece. Eric whitacre is so freakin amazing!!

[skp2myLoo]

this is absolutly the best youtube video of this song EVER!! yay Ole Miss!!

[pazaldavia]

i heard this song for the first time when victoria chorale sang it.. really loved it.

[midnightpredator18]

Ah! We performed this in my last year in my chamber choir at high school. We also sang "Water Night" my junior year. Both pieces are absolutely brilliant! Eric Whitacre is amazing.

[lavieboheme26]

freakin love whitacre. we sang this at GHP this summer, and then sleep at GMEA all-state.

[mrmcdoodles]

I heard the Mormon Tabernacle Choir perform this song at Christmas, and they had some really cool dancers with some really powerful lighting effects going on. It was a really powerful performance.

[pnksxypmp]

Um, I don't know if you are in this choir or know anything about it, but where is it? Is it like a college choir?

[kwbmusicman]

Yes. I am in the choir... or was, rather. I recently graduated. It is the University of Mississippi Concert Singers (also known as Ole Miss). It's located in Oxford, MS.

[CKtheFat]

My choir sang this too. It's what got us loving Eric Whitacre.

In my school's performance we were performing in almost complete darkness with a blue background, so we were like shadows. On the giant "et canunt gravis que" we crescendod from pianissimo to fortissimo and had the light operator suddenly flash on all the lights at full brightness... it was amazing.

[Talk2ben]

Eric is a genuis. We sang SLeep for TMEA ALl-state and everyone in the state became OBSESSED with Mr. Whiteacre. This is one of the best interpretations I've heard (there are a lot of not very good choirs who think they can sing it, lol)

[Odelphia]

I remember doing Sleep for TMEA All-State as well. That's when my love of Mr. Whitacre began. Small world.

[LaTiDoReMegan]

i LOVE eric whitacre!! the acoustics of that little chapel are so perfect and it's so cool to hear what whitacre does with the piece; they sound great =)

[Goberile]

His interpretation sounds nearly the same at Staheli's, suprising.

[amandblue5]

My absolute favorite Whitacre. I wish I had gotten a chance to perform it---but there's still time!

[omnistudio]

how do you pronounce "Whitacre"?

[kwbmusicman]

WIT-uh-ker. :)

[doormatttttttt]

It's amazing to see a composer's own interpretation.. Whitacre is amazing, and this choir is too. :)

[wolfcon087]

omg the ultimate hairies.

[Matejivanovich]

Wow...this is beautiful...it takes me back to my years in concert choir in high school. But...its just different compared to how the Madrigals of GVHS did it...oh man. I got a recording of it--I need to post it on YouTube at least in musical form.

[memphoscorpio]

why the hostility? i just made a comment. and yes there were people around during that time and for the music too.

[nbottoms]

well when I was in concert singers we were the best in the Milky Way and far far beyond... get over it, he was let go years ago, none of us were around for that, just like the music..

[memphoscorpio]

I dont know if they still are, but when I was at Ole Miss we had the # 1 Amateur Choral Group in the world. We were only one of about 4 or 5 universities in the entire USA that were invited yearly to an elite Choral competition in Europe. I know we went for several years in a row, but not sure if that is still the case. I was unaware until just recently that Dr. Jordan had departed as the director of the Concert Singers. He certainly created a dynasty at Ole Miss.

[MaripositadelCoroxx8]

Heyyy! My choir teacher was in the concert singers when y'all went to the choir olympics..

[johnathangibbs]

I remember recieving that same information when looking for colleges to go to in MS. I ended up going up the road to a small private college called "Rust", now I'm transfering to Delta State. Maybe Ole Miss for grad school? They have a masters choral conducting program, but I don't know if I really wanna stay in MS too much longer...

[choirnerd99]

WOW!! IS there anyway you can get the rest of the songs up on youtube?

[kwbmusicman]

I'm working on it. We also recorded "Sleep" which I'm in the process of getting up... the file size is a little big, so some of the extra seconds need to be shaved off. We also recorded "With a Lily," but I didn't get it on camera. Thanks for the compliment!