I sung this song in my high school choir. It gives me tear dropping nostalgia which makes me feel amazing! Glad I did this and shoutout to Erik for creating such a beautiful masterpiece!
My middle school choir sang this a couple years back among other songs. And this song was the one that helped the judges decide that we won. It is such a beautiful song.
recently had the honor of performing this piece at the GA All-State sight-reading chorus... one of the most magnificent experiences in my life. felt like a definitive moment, like it made me into the person i will become. its so ethereal and hearing it again brings a bittersweet smile to my face. the harmonies, the singing glasses (or in our case, chimes), and lyrics all evoke such a sense of otherworldly longing, yearning for a _heaven full of stars_ , knowing you will never reach them, realizing how innately blessed you are to exist in a world that allows you the privilege of bearing witness to _so much majesty_
My director cried during our final performance of this song. I was so choked up seeing it and hearing how beautiful it sounded in the hall we were in, it was hard to keep singing properly.
We listened to this in choir today, and I couldn't help but feel such a beautiful connection with the harmonies. They sound so beautifully dissonant, and they make me feel like there's something else that's beyond those notes. Might be the overtones talking, but maybe even past that. Something beyond just regular harmonies. Thank you. :)
Its very interesting that Eric Whitacre also said theres is something special with the overtones in the human voice. Playing the same chords on a piano or with strings doesn't sound very nice because of the different overtones. It is like the human voice is made for such type of chords/harmonies.
I'm doing a project over a song that I know nothing about, and I chose this one at random not knowing what it was or how it sounded. After listening...this is probably one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard. Not to mention how amazing the choir sounded. Yes, this song was chorally created by Esenvalds, but the poem of words sung was written by a women named Sara Teasdale. I think everyone should know about her and what she accomplished
Just heard this wonderful piece of music on BBC Radio 3 driving along misty, rain soaked country roads in Cornwall. Lots of chaos and upheaval in life at the moment but this seemed to make the world at ease. Beautiful
The song is wonderful and sang by many professional choirs. I have never seen a better performance of Stars than that on which comes from Ešenvalds home country Latvia, performed by LATVIA STATE CHOIR. It is also here on youtube. But this young choir stands out by wonderful visual performance. The best visual here on youtube so far. My comment to the angry critics is that very often some video taken from a balcony, one side can never be enough to judge a performance of the choir. I am convinced that they did sound wonderful in the concert hall.
Just heard this song for the first time today in my high school choir, we'll be performing it in February and March for a choral competition... SO EXCITED.
Oh dear Lord! It seems like every time I get on RUclips I come across a choir piece, and each one is better than the last. This is amazing!!! I could very well cry... gimme time to get to know this piece and become one with it, and I'll be a puddle of emotional wetness for sure! Very well done, NUSChoir
I still come to this absolutely beautiful song for peace. I'm a flute player - Sophomore Instrumental Music Education Major... But something about great choral works like this pulls at the heartstrings more than some instrumental music does to me... This is incredible. Thank you for a job well done.
Love the choreography/visual effect used on this performance! It gives the listener/audience added visual imagery for this wonderful piece. :) Hats off to the choir and the musical director! :)
I too got a chance to perform this piece last Sunday...so much majesty...the sound from the glasses and the lights like stars and the gorgeous melding of the voices. I agree, there's something more that comes. We went right into "Glow" by Eric Whitacre then a song called "Tundra" and it was magical.
Atrapada por vuestra interpretación. ¡Enhorabuena! Excelente trabajo. "No podemos salir a ver las estrellas, pero gracias a la música podemos sentirlas".
Just got to hear this in person at #CedarvilleUniversity by the women’s choir. Gave me the chills!!! There’s a scene in The Chronicles of Narnia, in The Magician’s Nephew, where the stars are singing. I imagine their song was like this one.
Sorry I know you sent this 3 years ago but I need you to know that the instrumental is actually the singers running wet fingers on the rims of tuned wine glasses! (So fun to perform!)
My choir just finished one of Ešenvalds’ other pieces (amazing grace) there is not a single one of his compositions that is not stunning and heart rendingly beautiful.
awesome choir. when you hear a piece like this performed by a truly talented group, the genius of the composer is at the front that much more. I love the lights, and the knife edged dissonance in this. truly transcendent.
Alone Alone in the night On a dark hill With pines around me Spicy and still And still Aeons Aeons And a heaven full of stars Over my head (White and topaz) And misty red Myriads with beating Hearts of fire That aeons Cannot vex or tire Aeons Aeons Aeons Up The dome of heaven Like a great hill And myriads with beating Hearts of fire Heaven full of stars Heaven full of stars Aeons Aeons Ae- And I know that I Am honored to be Witness Of so much majesty Majesty Ons
Lovely performance and the winking stars add so much to the effect. Can you tell me where you were able to locate glasses suitable for tuning the required pitches? Thanks in advance!
"Stars" 讚頌星空之深奧 大自然之神聖的美妙合唱作品！ 譜曲 by Eriks Esenvalds (拉脫維亞） 英詩 by Sara Teasdale (美國） Alone in the night On a dark hill With pines around me Spicy and still, And a heaven full of stars Over my head White and topaz And misty red; Myriads with beating Hearts of fire That aeons Cannot vex or tire; Up the dome of heaven Like a great hill, I watch them marching Stately and still, And I know that I Am honored to be Witness Of so much majesty. 夜晚獨自 在黑暗山丘 松樹圍繞 刺鼻又安靜 滿天星辰 在我頭上 白色和晶玉 和迷紅 密離跳動 火之心 京兆之年亦 無能干馭 未令疲乏 在蒼穹之上 如宏大山丘 我眺望它們行進 高貴又安靜 然後我明白 是我的光榮 得以見證到 如許莊嚴
Beautiful. I am working with a choir here in New Zealand. Can you tell me the protocols/procedures you followed to get the glasses filled with water and on stage which kept the stage manager happy?. I know the theatre where we will be performing will want an safety plan around this. Many thanks and 'Kia ora' from New Zealand.
Kia Ora! We didn't need to prepare a safety plan per se, our venue was accommodating enough. Perhaps you can ensure that the glasses are filled up backstage or in your dressing rooms (i.e., not in the wings) to prevent spillage and risk of anyone slipping. That's what we did, anyway. And the glasses were barely half filled so that reduces chances of spillage too. After this piece was performed, the choir exited the stage and we had prepared tables in the wings so that they could quickly set the glasses down, thus also reducing the chance of spilling as the choir walked off. Hope this helps!
Beautiful music. A couple of questions about the glasses. I see in comments below that you got them from IKEA. Were they all the same size, or did you use different sizes? Which size/sizes to get all the notes with the glasses barely half-filled? Thanks.
Hey, I have an idea. Why doesn't every ******** person in the audience start coughing? Why not? I can't believe those singers are interfering with a great majority coughing fit!! Unbelievable. Remove yourself from the venue if you can't control your cough.
These people are professional 'coughers', they train for years in libraries, cinemas and theatres just waiting for their opportunity to ruin a live recording for everyone else.
Dr Brady Allred did the same to my community choir - sped us up when he conducted us at a workshop. I never got the chance to ask whether he did it to jolt us out of our complacency with the usual pace we approach the piece and to compel us to look at the conductor (which we hadn't gotten into the habit of doing), or whether that was how he interpreted the piece for beginner choirs. It was Josu Elberdin's "Izar Ederrak".
I actually recently performed this song with my high school choir at a choral festival and Ēriks Ešenvalds was the clinician, so I have a couple thoughts. There are some parts towards the beginning where you might want to consider a lighter sound, it sounds slightly forced. Make sure you use constant air all the time too, at the end of some phrases the sound tends to die out, keep your energy going! Also think of blending your sound more. At “the dome,” there were a lot of sopranos who sounded a little too much like soloists. Lift at “hill” at the big part in the middle of the song, stagger breathing more. Overall a pretty good performance, this song isn’t easy!
C'est très beau, j'ai juste un peu l'impression que les voix de femmes écrasent un peu les voix d'hommes, ce qui fait qu'on entend pas assez bien les graves de la basse...
I came here with the best intentions but I have to give some constructive criticism. It's very choppy, it doesn't flow, it's flat a lot of the time, specially in the high soprano parts, the sections are not together in many places, and the alto solo was disastrous. Sorry, kinda ruined the beautiful piece.
the lights in the choir is such an amazing touch
I sung this song in my high school choir. It gives me tear dropping nostalgia which makes me feel amazing! Glad I did this and shoutout to Erik for creating such a beautiful masterpiece!
My middle school choir sang this a couple years back among other songs. And this song was the one that helped the judges decide that we won. It is such a beautiful song.
Sang this as a senior in my last holiday concert and am sobbing I miss it all so much
Music brings us together. Keep singing, and the memories will return stronger than before. Have a good day
recently had the honor of performing this piece at the GA All-State sight-reading chorus... one of the most magnificent experiences in my life. felt like a definitive moment, like it made me into the person i will become. its so ethereal and hearing it again brings a bittersweet smile to my face. the harmonies, the singing glasses (or in our case, chimes), and lyrics all evoke such a sense of otherworldly longing, yearning for a _heaven full of stars_ , knowing you will never reach them, realizing how innately blessed you are to exist in a world that allows you the privilege of bearing witness to _so much majesty_
That's rapturous! Thanks for sharing an indelible moment's riches. First encounter with this, am certainly beguiled and entranced.
my high school choir is singing this next week. It's so beautiful it makes me want to cry
soccer mom me too
My director cried during our final performance of this song. I was so choked up seeing it and hearing how beautiful it sounded in the hall we were in, it was hard to keep singing properly.
We listened to this in choir today, and I couldn't help but feel such a beautiful connection with the harmonies. They sound so beautifully dissonant, and they make me feel like there's something else that's beyond those notes. Might be the overtones talking, but maybe even past that. Something beyond just regular harmonies.
Thank you. :)
Its very interesting that Eric Whitacre also said theres is something special with the overtones in the human voice. Playing the same chords on a piano or with strings doesn't sound very nice because of the different overtones. It is like the human voice is made for such type of chords/harmonies.
Thank you all for your wonderful comments!
How are the 'stars' sounds played? Are those pitched glasses? Thanks you guys, love all the work
Yes. You can se it very well if you search the same song performed by other choirs.
Replay 100
This is heavenly music 🎼
I'm doing a project over a song that I know nothing about, and I chose this one at random not knowing what it was or how it sounded. After listening...this is probably one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard. Not to mention how amazing the choir sounded. Yes, this song was chorally created by Esenvalds, but the poem of words sung was written by a women named Sara Teasdale. I think everyone should know about her and what she accomplished
Спасибо, интересно.
Just heard this wonderful piece of music on BBC Radio 3 driving along misty, rain soaked country roads in Cornwall. Lots of chaos and upheaval in life at the moment but this seemed to make the world at ease. Beautiful
The song is wonderful and sang by many professional choirs. I have never seen a better performance of Stars than that on which comes from Ešenvalds home country Latvia, performed by LATVIA STATE CHOIR. It is also here on youtube. But this young choir stands out by wonderful visual performance. The best visual here on youtube so far. My comment to the angry critics is that very often some video taken from a balcony, one side can never be enough to judge a performance of the choir. I am convinced that they did sound wonderful in the concert hall.
We are using this in March Madness right now and it really makes me miss my choir!!
same!
I know what you mean. I had to record it: ruclips.net/video/Y29miwcVUOU/видео.html
Just heard this song for the first time today in my high school choir, we'll be performing it in February and March for a choral competition... SO EXCITED.
Oh dear Lord! It seems like every time I get on RUclips I come across a choir piece, and each one is better than the last.
This is amazing!!! I could very well cry... gimme time to get to know this piece and become one with it, and I'll be a puddle of emotional wetness for sure! Very well done, NUSChoir
I highly highly highly recommend Jake Runestad's 'Please Stay' and 'Let My Love Be Heard' for all those reasons.
Recommend a few? :))
ruclips.net/video/Y29miwcVUOU/видео.html
The stars from whence we came
This is what the gates of heaven sound like. I'm at peace.
I still come to this absolutely beautiful song for peace. I'm a flute player - Sophomore Instrumental Music Education Major... But something about great choral works like this pulls at the heartstrings more than some instrumental music does to me... This is incredible. Thank you for a job well done.
Wonderful conducting! All the choir members can totally trust themselves to his leading!
Beautiful. I get to sing this with the Seattle Mens Chorus and it is a breath taking piece. Gives me chills
I sang this right before my freshman year of high school as a Bass 2 and it remains the most jaw-droppingly stunning song I have ever heard
this makes me cry everytime i hear this, you all have such beautful voices
Thank GOD for this Choir!
oh my god. its so beautiful~ I'm getting chills!!! how have I never heard this?!
Love the choreography/visual effect used on this performance! It gives the listener/audience added visual imagery for this wonderful piece. :) Hats off to the choir and the musical director! :)
Brought tears to my eyes. Absolutely wonderful.
i’m singing this soon as an alto 2 😳 oh boy
omg so am i, it’s quite an experience haha
Try Soprano 1 lol
ahhh i'm obsessed i'm currently singing this in my choir and love it so much
i miss my choir :(
I too got a chance to perform this piece last Sunday...so much majesty...the sound from the glasses and the lights like stars and the gorgeous melding of the voices. I agree, there's something more that comes. We went right into "Glow" by Eric Whitacre then a song called "Tundra" and it was magical.
Atrapada por vuestra interpretación. ¡Enhorabuena! Excelente trabajo. "No podemos salir a ver las estrellas, pero gracias a la música podemos sentirlas".
Just got to hear this in person at #CedarvilleUniversity by the women’s choir. Gave me the chills!!!
There’s a scene in The Chronicles of Narnia, in The Magician’s Nephew, where the stars are singing. I imagine their song was like this one.
Really Beautiful Visual.... Make me love this song more.... Thanks Guys.... He (Ēriks Ešenvalds) is really genius....
I closed my eyes the entire time I watched this and I felt like I was there. When I opened my eyes my hairs were standing up!
The instrumental fits the song name so well! If I had to describe it, it would be starry and glittery.
Sorry I know you sent this 3 years ago but I need you to know that the instrumental is actually the singers running wet fingers on the rims of tuned wine glasses! (So fun to perform!)
I have no words that can describe the beauty. Just listen, cry, and remember Dingle
My choir just finished one of Ešenvalds’ other pieces (amazing grace) there is not a single one of his compositions that is not stunning and heart rendingly beautiful.
truly beautiful! our college's chamber choir plans to perform this during our fall season sometime
Gorgeous! Thank you for sharing this!
I genuinely cry every time i hear this
awesome choir. when you hear a piece like this performed by a truly talented group, the genius of the composer is at the front that much more. I love the lights, and the knife edged dissonance in this. truly transcendent.
Was für ein Wunderschönes Stück
In der Tat! Schön auch einen deutschen Kommentar zu lesen :)
Everytime I used go sang this in the choir I used to get chills, it sounded so good
This is astoundingly beautiful .
Alone
Alone in the night
On a dark hill
With pines around me
Spicy and still
And still
Aeons
Aeons
And a heaven full of stars
Over my head (White and topaz)
And misty red
Myriads with beating
Hearts of fire
That aeons
Cannot vex or tire
Aeons
Aeons
Aeons
Up
The dome of heaven
Like a great hill
And myriads with beating
Hearts of fire
Heaven full of stars
Heaven full of stars
Aeons
Aeons
Ae-
And I know that I
Am honored to be
Witness
Of so much majesty
Majesty
Ons
So underrated omfg
Amazing,beyond human!
I want to sing this. Right now I’m a freshman, but I’d like to sing this in my upcoming years.
stunning.
amazing effects ...awe inspiring
Mr dezíl hanse ek glo \ae\\gams sal geniet!!!!!!!
So beautiful!
Jon this is what we are singing
Simply. Wow.
So good.
Nice voices.. I'd love to work with you sometime. Regards!
Love this. Can you tell me what you used for lights?
+sue fink We used LED candles that can be switched on and off
the twinkling lights are perfect.
_ūpeлeūo. Хвала._
Great job Nelson
Beautiful.
Fantastic!
Just wow
O .my .. God !!!!
Heavenly
beautiful! yeah!
Lovely performance and the winking stars add so much to the effect. Can you tell me where you were able to locate glasses suitable for tuning the required pitches? Thanks in advance!
We got them from IKEA!
You usually find them by trial and error.
grossartig!
"Stars"
讚頌星空之深奧 大自然之神聖的美妙合唱作品！
譜曲 by Eriks Esenvalds (拉脫維亞）
英詩 by Sara Teasdale (美國）
Alone in the night
On a dark hill
With pines around me
Spicy and still,
And a heaven full of stars
Over my head
White and topaz
And misty red;
Myriads with beating
Hearts of fire
That aeons
Cannot vex or tire;
Up the dome of heaven
Like a great hill,
I watch them marching
Stately and still,
And I know that I
Am honored to be
Witness
Of so much majesty.
夜晚獨自
在黑暗山丘
松樹圍繞
刺鼻又安靜
滿天星辰
在我頭上
白色和晶玉
和迷紅
密離跳動
火之心
京兆之年亦
無能干馭 未令疲乏
在蒼穹之上
如宏大山丘
我眺望它們行進
高貴又安靜
然後我明白
是我的光榮
得以見證到
如許莊嚴
Wonderful!
Браво !!!!!!!
Not many things can represent the human spirit.
마음에 별빛이 반짝이네. 가장 어두운밤에 가장 밝은별
Firmament... Dome... Heaven above.
beautiful
So nice choir
wuaauuuu ... bravo !!!
Terrific!
My mans up there casting spells.
SATARS , si les "stars" chantaient , ca serais sans doute ce que vous chantez.
who is cutting onions
Beautiful. I am working with a choir here in New Zealand. Can you tell me the protocols/procedures you followed to get the glasses filled with water and on stage which kept the stage manager happy?. I know the theatre where we will be performing will want an safety plan around this. Many thanks and 'Kia ora' from New Zealand.
Kia Ora! We didn't need to prepare a safety plan per se, our venue was accommodating enough. Perhaps you can ensure that the glasses are filled up backstage or in your dressing rooms (i.e., not in the wings) to prevent spillage and risk of anyone slipping. That's what we did, anyway. And the glasses were barely half filled so that reduces chances of spillage too. After this piece was performed, the choir exited the stage and we had prepared tables in the wings so that they could quickly set the glasses down, thus also reducing the chance of spilling as the choir walked off. Hope this helps!
Beautiful music. A couple of questions about the glasses. I see in comments below that you got them from IKEA. Were they all the same size, or did you use different sizes? Which size/sizes to get all the notes with the glasses barely half-filled? Thanks.
Hi there! Our glasses were all the same size. Each glass was filled at different levels to get the different notes!
A PHENOMENAL CHORAL COMPOSITION PRESENTATION
chris williams
anne frank project
soundcloud
Hey, I have an idea. Why doesn't every ******** person in the audience start coughing? Why not? I can't believe those singers are interfering with a great majority coughing fit!! Unbelievable. Remove yourself from the venue if you can't control your cough.
These people are professional 'coughers', they train for years in libraries, cinemas and theatres just waiting for their opportunity to ruin a live recording for everyone else.
Sometimes it simply happens, including from the ensemble.
1.25 speed. Trust me.
Dr Brady Allred did the same to my community choir - sped us up when he conducted us at a workshop. I never got the chance to ask whether he did it to jolt us out of our complacency with the usual pace we approach the piece and to compel us to look at the conductor (which we hadn't gotten into the habit of doing), or whether that was how he interpreted the piece for beginner choirs. It was Josu Elberdin's "Izar Ederrak".
gut
Mic-ed at too far a distance. Too much room ambience. I like this director/conductor. Nelson Kwei.
I actually recently performed this song with my high school choir at a choral festival and Ēriks Ešenvalds was the clinician, so I have a couple thoughts. There are some parts towards the beginning where you might want to consider a lighter sound, it sounds slightly forced. Make sure you use constant air all the time too, at the end of some phrases the sound tends to die out, keep your energy going! Also think of blending your sound more. At “the dome,” there were a lot of sopranos who sounded a little too much like soloists. Lift at “hill” at the big part in the middle of the song, stagger breathing more. Overall a pretty good performance, this song isn’t easy!
Durmi😴😴😴
C'est très beau, j'ai juste un peu l'impression que les voix de femmes écrasent un peu les voix d'hommes, ce qui fait qu'on entend pas assez bien les graves de la basse...
Why does this sound evil
I came here with the best intentions but I have to give some constructive criticism. It's very choppy, it doesn't flow, it's flat a lot of the time, specially in the high soprano parts, the sections are not together in many places, and the alto solo was disastrous. Sorry, kinda ruined the beautiful piece.
Mau Navrrt I agree, very choppy.
ronaldlewis she doesn't need credentials to give criticism, it's called the comments section for a reason. chill
Agreed. Why do people have to be so rude?? "And you are?"--- so nasty.
Out of tune is out of tune, regardless of the arrangement.
lol nobody fucking cares honey
The choir is not god enough for this piece
Beautiful
Wonderful!!