time and again, i listen but never hear. since i bought a more than extravagant pair of earbuds, i'm going back to plow my library. and today i did some surgery to Leonardo. this is the first time i paid attention to the lyrics, and it is absolutely brilliant! what Whitacre had done with the text is indescribable. i probably dismissed it because it sounded baroque-ish, but when i heard the lyrics, it made total sense. i think he's trying to capture a rennaissance flavour (the exquisite counterpoints, the major chord ending to a phrase in minor key, the occasional break into a fugue, the delicious clashes and resolutions, ostinatos here and there.) it's full of human energy. it made me see Whitacre in a completely different light..
Tony Silvestri is heck of a poet. the imagery is amazing...i'm following him on twitter now :) @TonySilvestri

Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine
Music by Eric Whitacre
Text by Charles Anthony Silvestri

leonardo dreams of his flying machine
tormented by visions of flight and falling,
more wondrous and terrible each than the last,
master leonardo imagines an engine
to carry a man up into the sun...

as he's dreaming the heavens call to him,
softly whispering their siren-song:
"leonardo, leonardo, vieni a volare."

l'uomo colle sua congiegniate e grandi ale,
facciendo forza contro alla resistente aria.

as the candles burn low he paces and writes,
releasing purchased pigeons one by one
into the golden Tuscan sunrise...

and as he dreams, again the calling,
the very air itself gives voice:
"leonardo, leonardo, vieni a volare."

vicina all' elemento del fuoco...
scratching quill on crumpled paper
(rete, canna, filo, carta)
images of wing and frame and fabric fastened tightly.
...sulla suprema sottile aria.

as the midnight watchtower tolls,
over rooftop, street and dome,
the triumph of a human being ascending
in the dreaming of a mortal man.

leonardo steals himself,
takes one last breath, and leaps.....
"leonardo vieni a volare! leonardo, sognare!"