Sleep

"Sleep" by Eric Whitacre (2003)
United States Navy Concert Band and Sea Chanters Chorus
conducted by Capt. Brian O. Walden

Originally a strictly choral composition, Whitacre transcribed a version for band with optional SATB chorus which we present here. The text was conceived by Whitacre friend, Charles Anthony Silvestri and loosely based around themes in the poem "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost. Originally, Whitacre had set the text of the Frost poem believing it to be "fair use" as other composers had previously set it to music. However, the holders of Mr. Frost's estate had decided to halt all usage of that particular poem only months prior to Mr. Whitacre's composition. Having to cease distribution and performance of the piece, the composition sat unperformed. With some distance and reflection, Mr. Whitacre decided to ask his friend Charles Anthony Silvestri to take up the challenging task of setting new words to an already composed piece using the same structure as the Frost poem and incorporating similar themes.

The choral version was used for Whitacre's highly-successful "Virtual Choir" in 2011 where people from all over the world video-recorded themselves singing a voice part, conducted by a video-recording of Mr. Whitacre. The participants then uploaded the video to YouTube and a mass choir was created using qualified submissions.