Sleep+eric+whitacre+pdf

The PDFs contain the following lyrics:

The evening hangs beneath the moon,
A silver thread on darkened dune.
With closing eyes and resting head
I know that sleep is coming soon.

Upon my pillow, safe in bed,
A thousand pictures fill my head.
I cannot sleep, my mind’s aflight;
And yet my limbs seem made of lead. sleep+eric+whitacre+pdf

If there are noises in the night,
A frightening shadow, flickering light,
Then I surrender unto sleep,
Where clouds of dream give second sight.

So lay me down with silver sheet,
And let my tired body keep
The sweet and silent promise deep:
The promise of the quiet sleep. The PDFs contain the following lyrics:

The official publisher, GIA Music (giamusic.com), sells an authorized digital edition. For roughly $2.50 to $4.00 per copy (depending on quantity), you receive a high-resolution, watermarked PDF that you can print for your choir.

Before searching for the PDF, understanding the history of Sleep is essential. Originally, Whitacre set out to set Robert Frost’s poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” to music. After completing the draft, he sent it to the poet’s estate for permission. The estate refused. The evening hangs beneath the moon, A silver

Rather than discard the gorgeous harmonic structure he had built, Whitacre turned to his friend, poet Charles Anthony Silvestri. He asked Silvestri to write new lyrics that fit the existing rhythm and phrasing of the Frost setting. The result was Sleep—a text that mirrors the quiet, heavy-lidded transition from wakefulness to dreaming.

The first performance was electrifying. The piece opens with a single, floating line before cascading into dense, dissonant chords that resolve with incredible tenderness. It has since become a standard repertoire piece for high school, university, and professional choirs worldwide.