Sleep is a song composed by Eric Whitacre with lyrics by poet Charles Anthony Silvestri, arranged for eight-part chorus.
Contents
Composition
In October 2000, the 16-voice Austin, Texas choral ensemble Austin ProChorus made the debut performance of an eight-part choral work (SSAATTBB) by composer Eric Whitacre, a setting of the 1923 Robert Frost poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening". The work had been commissioned by attorney and professional vocalist Julia Armstrong for the ensemble as a memorial to her parents. After the work was performed by The Concordia Choir under the direction of René Clausen and at the 2001 national convention of the American Choral Directors Association, Whitacre learned that the Frost poem was under copyright, and he could not publish the work before the poem's U.S. copyright expiration in 2038 without the consent of the Frost literary estate, which refused to grant permission. Rather than give up publishing the work, Whitacre asked poet and frequent collaborator Charles Anthony Silvestri to write a new text which would correspond to the meter of the Frost poem and to the expressive details Whitacre had emphasized in the music. The next day Silvestri offered the poem Sleep, taking up the theme of sleep from the last stanza of Frost's poem.
Later developments
Whitacre has stated that he prefers the Silvestri text over the original and will therefore not republish the music with the Frost poem, even after 2038.
Whitacre selected the piece for his "virtual choir" project in 2010, in which videos submitted by hundreds of volunteer singers were combined to produce a video representation of a combined performance.
Analysis
This piece is best analyzed in E flat Major. The opening progression is IV, ii, vi, V, iii, IV, (vi), Vb(4); and that is all in measures 1-4 of the piece. Whitacre does not present the tonality of the piece in a traditional way, which gives us a sort of wandering feeling as there is no obvious tonic. These chords also add to the somewhat eerie, or perhaps other-worldly atmosphere that is apparent in the music. The Imperfect Cadence in these last few measures also adds to a feeling of uncertainty. Measure four mimics the same rhythm as the first four measures, with all four voice parts singing at the same time giving a lot of vertical density in the texture. The chords in the next four measures start with a IV, going to a iii, ii, vi, V(4), and then a Perfect Cadence with IV, V, I. The text up to this point is, “If there are noises in the night (Imperfect Cadence), a Frightening Shadow, a Flickering Light (Perfect Cadence).” He continues to use this as a format for the rest of the sentences. In Section A there are two periods, both consisting of two phrases. At both of the cadence points there is a six-part harmony. He uses brief chromaticism to cause a clash in the chord that is then resolved in the next beat. The piece moves along at a steady pace, alternating between 4/4, 3/4 and 2/4.[2]
Recordings
The work appears on Whitacre's album Light and Gold (Universal Decca, 2010).[1]
Arrangements
Sleep has also been transcribed for concert band and string orchestra.