Eric Whitacre, Robert Frost - Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening (Sleep)

This original version of Eric Whitacre's song "Sleep" was later rewritten due to copyright reasons. The text is Robert Frost's poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening."


Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.


Tags: Eric Whitacre, Robert Frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, Sleep, poem,music

Category:

Music

Tags:

• eric
• whitacre
• robert
• frost
• stopping
• by
• woods
• on
• snowy
• evening
• sleep
• poem
• music

[jasoncarson97]

I much prefer this original text by Frost. Nothing against Silvestri, I just prefer this text.

[blythebee1987]

The male voice parts at the climax of the piece resonate with a mid-twentieth century choral sound, like in disney movies or cartoons. Very dream-like or nostalgic.

[Marlvs2sing]

@lownoteman THANK YOU!

[lownoteman]

@Marlvs2sing BYU Singers.

[fancysinger]

I prefer this text a lot, mostly because this was just what it was written for. However, I think before re-publishing it as Sleep Whitacre made some changes to the piece which I really like. For example, at the end of the new version of the piece, the soprano's act as a pedal point while all the other vocal parts repeat "sleep". The changes he made really make the piece in my opinion

[djentbusiness]

At 1:07 it doesn't resonate in this text like it does in the new one. I don't like it.

[Marlvs2sing]

What choir is this? Sounds like the Dale Warland Singers...

And no one else sings Whitacre quite like they do...incredible!

[AllMuttGirl]

How could Robert Frost dislike this...

[JesterIF]

In my opinion, in this version only the first and last stanzas really fit the music. In Silvestri's lyrics, it's a perfect fit through and through.

[guitarman14339]

It wasn't re-written for copyright reasons, It was re-written because Robert Frost hated the Frostiana pieces and made sure that his family would keep any other composers from "tampering with his work" per say.

[guitarman14339]

@pimcgirr I'm pretty sure they were fully aware of how it sounded. They're "exact words" were "If you do any more with this piece, we'll sue you for all you're worth." and considering how much he was worth (which was a hell of a lot even at the time) he decided to listen to them. So it probably isn't a good idea to have this on YouTube for all the world to hear (including the Frost family)... Just sayin'

[guitarman14339]

@jasoncarson97 Before I say this, I see your "Nothing against, Silvestri". He actually did a fabulous job because Eric asked him to write another poem with the same syllable value (can't remember the "actual word" for that) as "Stopping By Woods on Snowy Evening" because he didn't want to change a single note or note value of the music. And he did.

Random Fact: Silvestri's inspiration for the text was trying to get his young child to go to sleep.