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Tonight and This Weekend: Chanticleer Premieres "Sleep, My Child" from Paradise Lost

September 25, 2008 at 8:31 pm UTC

If you happen to be in the Bay Area this weekend, you may want to stop in and here Chanticleer sing the world premiere of my a cappella transcription of “Sleep, My Child.” Here is a list of scheduled concerts and ticket info, but If you can’t hear it in San Francisco they’ll be touring with it all this season; we’re also planning a recording.

I know that a lot of you have been patiently waiting for a Paradise Lost recording, and I promise I’ll have an update soon. There are a lot of business deals going on behind the scenes, and once the dust settles, I’ll know a lot more, and then I’ll tell you. THANK YOU for your patience, and in the meantime, try to catch Chanticleer… I think the transcription came out nicely, and of course they sound like GOLD.

Here is the original “Sleep, My Child” from Paradise Lost, with my awesome wife Hila singing all three parts.

[audio http://ericwhitacre.com/wp-content/uploads/10-sleep-my-child-final-master.mp3]

  • Lucas Levy

    absolutely beautiful

  • http://scrapsanddoodles.blogspot.com/ Robert Sparks

    Why are all of your premieres in California?
    Come have one in North Carolina!
    May I reccomend Winston-Salem? The Steven's Center? Conveniently located within driving distance of my house, so I can stand a chance to go see it? :)
    Think about it.

  • Tessy

    That was so gorgeous! :) 'Nuff said? :D

  • http://www.RandomActsofLiteracy.com Ann J

    I am SO going to see them when they come to Michigan–probably twice, which would take my Chanticleer performance attendance up to 4. Couldn't ask for a more perfect combination: Chanticleer, Eric Whitacre, and my favorite song from P.L.!

  • http://www.myspace.com/rob256 Rob Henderson

    They're coming to Huntsville! Yes! I'll hear it!!! You've got to make sure they do it. Haha. Glad to hear Paradise Lost is coming along… We eagerly await the final production of your incredible talent.

  • http://www.joegratz.net Joe Gratz

    I was at the concert in San Francisco on Sunday, and the "Sleep, My Child" transcription blew me away. By far my favorite piece on the program. Thank you so much.

  • Steve Wincor

    Ever since meeting you at San Jose State when you directed my sons choir with Sleep I have been a fan. It was an honor to listed to hear the Chanticleer group sing your Sleep, My Child at the Santa Clara Mission this week. We also had the Lincoln High School Mens and Chamber Choir. We were all blewn away!

  • Daniel

    absolutely soul crushing. i wish you would put out a cd with all the string orchestra stuff on it.

  • http://huh.com Matt

    The harmonies during:

    "Just listen for the lark" (if those are indeed the correct lyrics) – are beautiful.

  • Dylan Woolums

    Such a gorgeous song. I hope to see/hear it in person some day.

  • Alex Gartner

    I just heard Chaticleer perform it last weekend, and it was utterly amazing. I wish Paradise Lost would make its way toward the midwest!

  • soprano2

    This is absolutely gorgeous! What inspired this song? The chords just flow throughout it and I definitely wanted to take a nap it was so realxing. I wish I could get my voice to have that tone quality, my vibrato is so huge I tend to stay away from soft lullaby songs. But she is absolutley gorgeous, what a lucky man!

  • http://www.txstate.edu/~cm1477 Coty Raven Morris

    This piece is wonderful! I saw Chanticleer perform this piece in Seguin, Tx. The entire audience, myself included, could not help but to weep at the beautiful harmonies and text of the piece. Have you ever thought of arranging it as a solo work for Soprano or Mezzo?

    Thanks for Rockin' my life.

    Coty

  • http://www.myspace.com/jaelysoprano Jaely Chamberlain

    Hello!

    I don't suppose there's any way that I would be able to get my hands on a score of this would I? I would love to perform this on my senior recital about a year and a half from now. It is beautiful.

    Jaely

  • http://lifescansdarkly.wordpress.com Dan

    This is the only electronic work I've heard so far – did you do the synths and drums yourself, or just the composition? Or: does anyone else know the answers to these questions? I haven't seen this piece on any albums either, and would love to have it on CD.

  • Josh Wayne

    Your wife did a wonderful job, her voice is so controlled and captivating in this piece.

About Eric

Eric Whitacre is one of the most popular and performed composers of our time, a distinguished conductor, broadcaster and public speaker. His first album as both composer and conductor on Decca/Universal, Light & Gold, won a Grammy® in 2012, reaped unanimous five star reviews and became the no. 1 classical album in the US and UK charts within a week of release... full bio