Eric Whitacre (1970 - Present)

Introduction
Eric Edward Whitacre was born Friday, January 2, 1970 and is a Grammy-winning American composer, conductor, and speaker, known for his choral, orchestral and wind ensemble music. He is also known for his "Virtual Choir" projects, bringing individual voices from around the globe together into an online choir. In March 2016, he was appointed as Los Angeles Master Chorale's first artist-in-residence at the Walt Disney Concert Hall.Whitacre was born in Reno, Nevada, to Ross and Roxanne Whitacre. He studied piano intermittently as a child and joined a junior high marching band under band leader Jim Burnett. Later Whitacre played synthesizer in a techno-pop band, dreaming of being a rock star.Though he was unable to read music at the time, Whitacre began his full musical training while an undergraduate at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, eventually taking a BM in Music Composition.Whitacre states that the first work that he sang, Mozart's Requiem, changed his life. He studied composition with Ukrainian composer Virko Baley and choral conducting with David Weiller, completing his BM in Music in 1995.

https://ericwhitacre.com/biography

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Work Analysis
October is a contemporary piece for concert band that was written by Eric Whitacre in 2000. Based on the guidelines as established by the authors of Teaching Music through Performance in Band, October is a Grade 5 piece.Eric Whitacre composed October with the intention of evoking a peaceful musical representation of the month he has called his favorite, and the feelings this month evokes for him. Whitacre writes in a programme note:Something about the crisp autumn air and the subtle changes in light always make me a little sentimental, and as I started to sketch I felt the same quiet beauty in the writing. The simple, pastoral melodies and the subsequent harmonies are inspired by the great English Romantics, as I felt this style was also perfectly suited to capture the natural and pastoral soul of the season.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EoUAbODO34

Observations
The instrumentation of October is standard for most high school concert bands.[7] There are thirty-three different parts. Players can double up for the two flute parts, the three clarinet parts and the saxophone and trumpet parts. The oboe, E♭ clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, horn, trombone, euphonium and tuba parts will probably each be played by just one performer. The band should be about sixty-five members strong or a little more. This is a practical number for a high school band, although it will depend on the school district. With sixty-five players, some of them will be the only performer of their particular part. Two of the instruments that Whitacre used, the E♭ clarinet and the bass trombone, are high school instruments, not middle school.