Whitacre's Godzilla Eats Las Vegas!

Eric Whitacre (January 2, 1970 (1970-01-02) - Present)

One of the best composers of the current generation. Known mostly for his work on Youtube with the Virtual Choir and his other choral pieces. Thankfully, Whitacre also has a sense of humor and doesn't take himself or his work too seriously. I'm not too much into the choral scene though, but luckily for the world Whitacre has done some compositions for wind symphony and orchestra. His pieces for wind symphony are absolutely brilliant.

Godzilla Eats Las Vegas is a quite interesting piece. It was commissioned by the University of Nevada Las Vegas, Thomas G. Leslie, conductor, and received its premiere November 28th, 1996. Despite the... unique nature of this piece, it has been performed in serious concert venues. Godzilla Eats Las Vegas was even performed on the steps of the Capitol Building by the United States Marine Corps Band. Whitacre has even said, "The idea that this piece is being played all over the world in such serious concert venues is the single funniest thing I have ever heard." Whitacre explains how the piece came about by saying, "Tom Leslie asked me to write another piece for the group [at University of Nevada, Las Vegas] as I was leaving, and I thought it would be a blast to do something completely ridiculous." This piece is precisely that. Whitacre covers all genres of music in his 13 minute masterpiece.

Whitacre began working on this piece by writing a brief outline of a plot, in which an army of Elvi (that is, an army of Elvises) battle Godzilla. But before the Elvi come to do battle, Godzilla manages to stomp on the likes of Frank Sinatra, Wayne Newton, and Liberace. The piece is certainly intended to be humorous and campy, like pretty much all of the Godzilla movies. If you don't like this piece, or if it doesn't at some point put a smile on your face, then your speakers must not be working. And according to Whitacre, he even has a video of a Japanese audience visibly confused and shaken after the piece concluded. Have a listen, and see if you're just as confused and shaken as the Japs.