Cloudburst won a Grammy Award for Best Engineered Classical Album in 2001. The song features a section where the choir sings without any words, only vocal sounds to mimic the sound of a thunderstorm. Paz wrote the original poem in Spanish, and it was later translated into English by Muriel Rukeyser. The lyrics of the song were written by Octavio Paz, a Mexican poet and Nobel laureate. Whitacre wrote Cloudburst while living in Los Angeles and feeling homesick for rain.
The finger snaps in the song are meant to sound like raindrops falling on pavement.
The choir is accompanied by a piano, two percussionists, and a group of water-tuned crystal glasses. The song was inspired by a real cloudburst that Whitacre witnessed during a trip to the Grand Canyon. The use of finger snaps and body percussion is particularly effective in creating a sense of rain falling, and the lyrics speak to the importance of dreaming and singing as ways to connect with our past, present, and future. Overall, Cloudburst is a powerful and moving song that captures the beauty, energy, and complexity of a rainstorm. The song ends with an invitation to return to where we began, to the thread that weaves us all together. The lyrics speak to the power of song and the importance of remembering the words of our ancestors, of the earth, and of our bodies. The dreams are of rivers finding their way and of suns dreaming up their own worlds. The second verse brings a sense of hope, as the rain wakes up and the narrator encourages the audience to dream actively and sing loudly. The answer is no, only blood, dust, and the marks left by bare feet on thorns. The tone then shifts to a darker and more urgent mood, as the narrator asks the barren and dry earth if it has any water left. The first verse describes the rain as "eyes of water," with shades of blue and green swirling together like the sun and creating light that bursts like a pomegranate. The song is performed by a choir and features musical elements that mimic the sounds of rain, including finger snaps and body percussion. The lyrics of Eric Whitacre's Cloudburst bring to life the energy and beauty of a powerful rainstorm.
Sólo pisadasde pies desnudos sobre la espina?īuscando su cause, sueños de sol soñando sus mundos