VOCES8 returns to our CD Spotlight with Home, a collection of songs by Eric Whitacre. The centerpiece of the CD is “The Sacred Veil,” a setting of poems by Charles Anthony Silvestri, Julia Lawrence Silvestri, and Whitacre that tackles our greatest hopes and our darkest fears. It is deeply personal, too, as it chronicles the love of Tony and Julia, the birth of their children, and Julia’s death from ovarian cancer. It took Silvestri ten years to chronicle that love, that loss, and the very thin line between the two in “our fragile, fleeting world.” The project provided the release that Silvestri needed. “Sacred Veil was a huge closure moment,” he says. “Having closed my marriage to Julie and raised our kids, I have done my duty to my vow to her. Even if no one ever performed it, I would consider it to be the best thing in my life.” It is a piece that is both heartbreaking and affirming.
Whitacre chose four pieces to add to the mix, including the always moving “The Seal Lullaby” and “Sing Gently,” which was performed three years ago during the pandemic shutdown for Whitacre’s Virtual Choir 6. The lyrics send a message that, somehow, we find a voice of unity in these divisive days.
Says Whitacre, “As a composer, having the chance to have my music brought to life by musicians of this caliber is, well, all I could ever hope for.” May Home be everything you could hope for as well.
