Eric Whitacre: Virtual Choir Live

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

Translator: Fran Ontanaya Reviewer: Òscar Aznar Alemany

In 1991 I had

En 1991 vaig viure

maybe the most profound and transformative

l'experiència potser més profunda

experience of my life.

i transformadora de la meva vida.

I was in the third year of my seven-year undergraduate degree.

Era el meu tercer any de set a la universitat.

I took a couple victory laps in there.

Vaig fer un parell d'anys de postgrau.

And I was on a college choir tour up in Northern California,

Un cop, de gira amb el cor universitari al nord de Califòrnia

and we had stopped for the day after all day on the bus,

ens vam aturar després de tot el dia en autocar

and we were relaxing next to this beautiful

i vam descansar a la vora d'un llac

idyllic lake in the mountains.

preciós i idíl·lic a la muntanya.

And there were crickets and birds and frogs making noise,

Se sentien grills i ocells i granotes

and as we sat there, over the mountains coming in

i, mentre seiem allà, de darrere de les muntanyes

from the north were these Steven Spielbergian clouds

apareixien uns núvols Spielbergians

rolling toward us,

que s'acostaven pel nord.

and as the clouds got about halfway over the valley,

I quan els núvols eren quasi a sobre de la vall,

so help me God, every single animal in that place

Déu ens guardi, tots i cadascun dels animals

stopped making noise at the same time.

es van quedar en silenci a la vegada.

(Whoosh) This electric hush, as if they could sense what was about to happen.

Fiu... Un silenci elèctric, com si poguessin sentir el que estava a punt de passar.

And then the clouds came over us, and then,

Llavors els núvols se'ns van posar al damunt

boom! This massive thunderclap, and sheets of rain.

i bum! Un tro ensordidor i cortines de pluja.

It was just extraordinary, and when I came back home

Va ser impressionant. Quan vaig tornar a casa

I found a poem by the Mexican poet Octavio Paz,

vaig trobar un poema del poeta mexicà Octavio Paz

and decided to set it to music,

i vaig decidir posar-li música

a piece for choir called "Cloudburst,"

en una peça per a un cor titulada 'Cloudburst',

which is the piece that we'll perform for you in just a moment.

que és la peça que us interpretarem d'aquí a uns moments.

Now fast forward to just three years ago.

Avancem fins a fa només tres anys

(Music) And we released to YouTube this,

(música) quan vam presentar a YouTube

the Virtual Choir Project,

el Virtual Choir Project [projecte cor virtual]

185 singers from 12 different countries.

amb 185 cantants de 12 països diferents.

You can see my little video there conducting these people,

Aquí teniu un vídeo en què dirigeixo aquesta gent

alone in their dorm rooms

sols a la seva habitació

or in their living rooms at home.

o a la sala d'estar.

Two years ago, on this very stage, we premiered

Fa dos anys, en aquest mateix escenari, vam presentar

Virtual Choir 2,

el Virtual Choir 2,

2,052 singers from 58 different countries,

amb 2.052 cantants de 58 països diferents,

this time performing a piece that I had written called "Sleep."

aquest cop amb una peça meva titulada 'Sleep'.

And then just last spring we released Virtual Choir 3,

I la passada primavera vam presentar el Virtual Choir 3,

"Water Night," another piece that I had written,

'Water Night', una altra peça meva,

this time nearly 4,000 singers from 73 different countries.

aquest cop amb quasi 4.000 cantants de 73 països diferents.

(Music)

(Música)

And when I was speaking to Chris about the future

Quan parlava amb el Chris sobre el futur

of Virtual Choir and where we might be able to take this,

del Virtual Choir i fins a on podríem arribar,

he challenged me to push the technology as far as we possibly could.

em va desafiar a portar la tecnologia fins al límit.

Could we do this all in real time?

Podríem fer-ho en temps real?

Could we have people singing together in real time?

Podríem tenir gent cantant alhora en temps real?

And with the help of Skype,

I amb l'ajuda de Skype,

that is what we are going to attempt today.

és el que intentarem fer avui.

Now, we'll perform "Cloudburst" for you.

Interpretarem 'Cloudburst'.

The first half will be performed by the live singers here on stage.

La primera meitat serà interpretada pels cantants d'aquí l'escenari.

I'm joined by singers from Cal State Long Beach,

M'acompanyen cantants de les universitats Long Beach

Cal State Fullerton and Riverside Community College,

i Fullerton de Califòrnia i de l'institut Riverside,

some of the best amateur choirs in the country, and —

alguns els millors cors no professionals del país, i…

(Applause) --

(Aplaudiments)

and in the second half of the piece,

i en la segona part de la peça,

the virtual choir will join us, 30 different singers

el cor virtual se'ns unirà, 30 cantants

from 30 different countries.

de 30 països diferents.

Now, we've pushed the technology as far as it can go,

Hem portat la tecnologia fins al límit;

but there's still less than a second of latency,

hi ha menys d'un segon de retard,

but in musical terms, that's a lifetime.

però en música és tota una vida.

We deal in milliseconds.

Nosaltres treballem amb milisegons.

So what I've done is, I've adapted "Cloudburst"

Per això he adaptat 'Cloudburst'

so that it embraces the latency

perquè inclogui el retard

and the performers sing into the latency

i els intèrprets cantin en retard

instead of trying to be exactly together.

en comptes d'intentar encaixar del tot.

So with deep humility, and for your approval,

Així que, amb molta humilitat i esperant el vostre vistiplau,

we present "Cloudburst."

presentem 'Cloudburst'.

(Applause)

(Aplaudiments)

(Piano)

(Piano)

[The rain ...]

La pluja…

[Eyes of shadow-water]

Ulls d'aigua d'ombra,

[eyes of well-water]

ulls d'aigua de pou,

[eyes of dream-water.]

ulls d'aigua de somni.

[Blue suns, green whirlwinds,]

Sols blaus, verds remolins,

[birdbeaks of light pecking open]

becs de llum que obren astres

[pomegranate stars.]

com magranes.

[But tell me, burnt earth, is there no water?]

Digues, terra cremada, no hi ha aigua?

[Only blood, only dust,]

hi ha només sang, només hi ha pols,

[only naked footsteps on the thorns?]

només petjades de peus descalços sobre l'espina?

[The rain awakens...]

La pluja desperta...

[We must sleep with open eyes,]

S'he de dormir amb els ulls oberts,

[we must dream with our hands,]

s'ha de somiar amb les mans,

[we must dream the dreams of a river seeking its course,]

somiem somnis actius de riu buscant el seu curs,

[of the sun dreaming its worlds.]

somnis de sol somiant els seus mons,

[We must dream aloud,]

s'ha de somiar en veu alta,

[we must sing till the song puts forth roots,]

s'ha de cantar fins que el cant posi arrels,

[trunk, branches, birds, stars.]

tronc, branques, ocells, astres,

[We must find the lost word,]

s'ha de desenterrar la paraula perduda,

[and remember what the blood,]

recordar el que diuen de la sang

[the tides, the earth, and the body say,]

i la marea, la terra i el cos,

[and return to the point of departure...]

tornar al punt de partida...

(Music)

(Música)

(Applause)

(Aplaudiments)

["Cloudburst" Octavio Paz][translation by Lysander Kemp, adapted by Eric Whitacre]

['Cloudburst', d'Octavio Paz; adaptació d'Eric Whitacre]

Eric Whitacre: Beth. Annabelle, where are you? Jacob.

Beth, Annabelle, on sou? Jacob.

(Applause)

(Aplaudiments)

Thank you.

Gràcies.