Sax Octets

Sleep

Eric Whitacre

Composed:
2002 Arranged:
2024 Grouping:
SSAATTBB Duration:
03:15

Eric Whitacre's haunting choral work "Sleep" sets to music a lovely poem about drifting off to sleep by Charles Silvestri. It is a beautiful close-harmony work requiring great control, intonation, and ensemble playing. Its popularity has led to arrangements for many different groups beyond its choral roots, but as yet no official sax ensemble version.

Our arrangement directly maps the SATB choral parts onto eight saxes, either using two sopranos and baritones or adding sopranino and bass for a little extra range. This arrangement was made under a restricted license from the copyright holder and cannot be shared. Hopefully one day soon there will be an official saxophone ensemble arrangement. In the meantime, if you would like to try it please reach out to Walton Music to obtain a license.

If you enjoyed this piece, have comments or corrections, we'd love to hear from you.