Lux Arumque, Clandestine Love Reprise

Wiki says:
Eric Whitacre (born January 2, 1970 in Reno, Nevada) is an American composer, conductor and lecturer. He is one of the most popular and performed composers of his generation. In 2008, the all-Whitacre choral CD Cloudburst (released by the British ensemble Polyphony on Hyperion Records) became an international best-seller, topping the classical charts and earning a Grammy nomination.


I'm on a roll of music personal to me. Yesterday's Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen is deeply related to some other Cohen songs. Sisters of Mercy and Suzanne come to mind, though in my life those songs were covered by Judy Collins.

Tonight I want to share Lux Arumque, composed by Eric Whitacre. I sang this piece in the chorale ensemble Unistus, directed by Lonnie Cline, a group associated loosely with Clackamas Community College. Our main body of work was Estonian music but we sang other challenging works. Lux Arumque is not an easy piece to sing well. Lonnie is the Director of Vocal Activities for the college and not only does the concert choir but has a jazz group called Mainstream as well. His special love is Unistus. He put the group together to have a group to take to Estonia once he realized how truly unique Estonia is in the global music scene. Members of Unistus are mainly graduates of the college music program but there were a few of us invited after auditions that did not attend the college. Unfortunately I missed traveling to Estonia. I did travel with them locally and once up to Seattle.

My heart breaks a little thinking about it but my health has forced my retirement from any singing gigs at all.

Changing the subject now,

This is a simple poem of truth. She arrived in my world a force of nature, asking for me directly, right out of the blue. She would come to my house for most of our time together. Her many arrivals and departures are what stood behind my commitment and the price I paid for it when I entered Clandestine Love. Knowing, indeed I knew, Oh shit! This is really going to hurt!, knowing that as sure as anything I have ever known, also I knew this: my world was remade.

Thank you.

Clandestine Love

I do remember.
The moments of waiting for you
To come, the green shape
Of your chariot,
The stamp of the hooves, the snorts
And wild equine eyes
As you tied up out
Front. Then you came in my door.
My world was remade.

February 2, 2009 7:48 PM
Poem first posted August 5, 2009