Sleep (Whitacre)

The piece Sleep was written by Eric Whitacre in 1999. It was arranged for Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass in eight parts. Whitacre was commissioned to write the piece by a Mezzo-Soprano named Julia Armstrong for the premier by the Austin ProChorus. It was originally to be set with the text from Robert Frost’s Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening. The depiction of a wintery evening that is shown in this text is so magical and lends itself well to an arrangement. Armstrong chose this poem to memorialize her parents. The piece was performed in 2000, but unfortunately there were issues with the poem’s copyright. Whitacre hadn't secured copyright permission to use the text because he thought the poem was in public domain. After several legal battles Whitacre was banned from using the text by Robert Frost's estate. He asked one of his friends, Charles Anthony Silvestri, to write a new poem for the existing music that he had written. It is still apparent that the poet drew inspiration from the writings of Robert Frost, as he still used the “Sleep” theme that appears in the final stanza of the original, as well as the phrase “dark and deep.” The piece was later selected for Whitacre's Virtual Choir Project in 2011.[^[1]]

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 eery, 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 dynamics are low and the tempo is very smooth and legato. The piece moves along at a steady pace, alternating between 4/4, 3/4 and 2/4.[2]