Whitacre - Sleep
The haunting choral piece that has had more than 1.5 million views online.
Eric Whitacre's deeply moving piece began its life as a setting of Robert Frost's poem Stopping by woods on a snowy evening. But after the writer's estate forbade the use of the text until the year 2038, Whitacre called on poet Charles Anthony Silvestri to write new lyrics to his music. Sleep, with its poignant harmonies and peaceful textures, was born.
The work was selected for Eric Whitacre's 2011 Virtual Choir project. More than two thousand individual vocal recordings were uploaded by choir members from 58 countries. The video was posted online in April 2011 and his since received more than 1.5 million views on YouTube.
