Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

This is not an easy listen. The music is beautiful, the words thoughtful and thought-provoking, and the musicianship of all concerned is outstanding. The subject matter is what hurts as 'The Sacred Veil' tells the story of the tragically early death to cancer of a young wife and mother named Julia Lawrence Silvestri told in her own words and those of her grief-stricken husband, the poet Charles Anthony Silvestri, all set to music by their friend Eric Whitacre. The story - a true one, remember - is set in "A dark and distant year" (2008) and takes us on a journey back to when Tony and Julie fell in love ("You feel like home"), to their struggle to start a family ("Magnetic Poetry") through to childbirth ("Whenever there is birth") and on to the dreadful day when the doctor starts a conversation with the dreaded words "I'm afraid". There are tears - of course - and also laughter, with a lovely story of how Julie's young children found her wig, worn after she lost her hair in the course of treatment, to be endlessly amusing ("Delicious times") and then the desperation as Julie asks her "Dear friends" to pray as they had never prayed before. This, of course, raises many questions as she and we struggle to understand what God's will can be in all of this and it was here that I was reminded of A Grief Observed, the deeply moving book written by C. S. Lewis after the death of his wife Joy who also succumbed to cancer. There are no easy answers and while 'The Sacred Veil' does not attempt to speak for God and could not be described as an explicitly Christian record, it is clearly and deeply spiritual. The music is the best I have heard from Eric Whitacre and he is a composer that I have long admired. The Los Angeles Master Chorale give a masterclass in choral singing and the contributions of Lisa Edwards (piano) and Jeffrey Ziegler (cello) lift everything to a higher level. Any music that features a solo cello and has the word veil in its title inevitably brings Sir John Tavener's memorable 'The Protecting Veil' to mind and in this case the comparison is apt. Both pieces share an impassioned sense of the numinous and if neither the music not the subject matter move you then, with respect, you must have a heart of stone. 'The Sacred Veil' is not an easy listen but is nevertheless well worth hearing. The CD booklet includes the words and a running commentary from the composer as well as a 20-minute interview as a bonus at the end of the disc.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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