Set to a text by William Butler Yeats, "The Stolen Child" was commissioned by the National Youth Choir of Great Britain and The King's Singers to celebrate their 25th and 40th anniversaries, respectively. The chorus represents the voice of "the human child, innocent and naive" while the six solo voices represent the "water and the wild," seducing the children away from the world with the promise of endless revelry and eternal youth. Excerpted from Whitacre's music theater work Paradise Lost "Sleep My Child" for SATB and soloists is marked by delicate, ethereal sounds and purity of tone. |
