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Seal Lullaby, The (flex)

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Eric Whitacre

Eric Whitacre (arr. Robert Ambrose)


General Info

Year: 2011 / 2021
Duration: c. 3:45
Difficulty: III (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Hal Leonard
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $75.00


Instrumentation (Flexible)

Full Score
Part 1

  • Flute
  • Oboe
  • B-flat Soprano Clarinet
  • B-flat Soprano Saxophone
  • E-flat Alto Saxophone
  • B-flat Trumpet

Part 2

  • B-flat Soprano Clarinet
  • E-flat Alto Saxophone
  • B-flat Trumpet

Part 3

  • B-flat Soprano Clarinet
  • E-flat Alto Saxophone
  • Horn in F

Part 4

  • B-flat Soprano Clarinet
  • E-flat Alto Clarinet
  • B-flat Bass Clarinet
  • B-flat Tenor Saxophone
  • Trombone
  • Euphonium
  • Horn in F

Part 5

  • Bassoon
  • B-flat Bass Clarinet
  • E-flat Contra-Alto Clarinet
  • B-flat Tenor Saxophone
  • E-flat Baritone Saxophone
  • Trombone
  • Euphonium

Part 6

  • Bassoon
  • B-flat Bass Clarinet
  • E-flat Baritone Saxophone
  • Tuba
  • String Bass

Piano
Percussion, including:

  • Glockenspiel
  • Marimba
  • Vibraphone


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

In the spring of 2004 I was lucky enough to have my show Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings presented at the ASCAP Musical Theater Workshop. The workshop is the brain child of legendary composer Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Godspell), and his insights about the creative process were profoundly helpful. He became a great mentor and friend to the show and, I am honored to say, to me personally. Soon after the workshop I received a call from a major film studio. Stephen had recommended me to them and they wanted to know if I might be interested in writing music for an animated feature. I was incredibly excited, said yes, and took the meeting.

The creative executives with whom I met explained that the studio heads had always wanted to make an epic adventure, a classic animated film based on Kipling’s The White Seal. I have always loved animation, (the early Disney films; Looney Tunes; everything Pixar makes) and I couldn’t believe that I might get a chance to work in that grand tradition on such great material.

The White Seal is a beautiful story, classic Kipling, dark and rich and not at all condescending to kids. Best of all, Kipling begins his tale with the mother seal singing softly to her young pup. (The opening poem is called The Seal Lullaby).

Oh! Hush thee, my baby, the night is behind us,
And black are the waters that sparkled so green.
The moon, o’er the combers, looks downward to find us,
At rest in the hollows that rustle between.
 Where billow meets billow, then soft be thy pillow,
Oh weary wee flipperling, curl at thy ease!
The storm shall not wake thee, nor shark overtake thee,
Asleep in the arms of the slow swinging seas!

- Rudyard Kipling, 1865-1936

I was struck so deeply by those first beautiful words, and a simple, sweet Disney-esque song just came gushing out of me. I wrote it down as quickly as I could, had my wife record it while I accompanied her at the piano, and then dropped it off at the film studio. I didn’t hear anything from them for weeks and weeks, and I began to despair. Did they hate it? Was it too melodically complex? Did they even listen to it? Finally, I called them, begging to know the reason that they had rejected my tender little song. “Oh,” said the exec, “we decided to make Kung Fu Panda instead.”

So I didn’t do anything with it; just sang it to my baby son every night to get him to go to sleep. (Success rate: less than 50%.) A few years later the Towne Singers commissioned the choral arrangement of it, and in 2011 I transcribed the piece for concert band. I’m grateful to them for giving it a new life, and to the schools, colleges and directors listed who have believed in this new transcription. And I’m especially grateful to Stephen Schwartz, to whom the piece is dedicated. His friendship and invaluable tutelage hve meant more to me than I could ever tell him.

- Program note by composer


This new arrangement of the Whitacre classic was created during the COVID-19 pandemic as part of Initiatives:Creative Repertoire Initiative. Arranged with maximum flexibility in mind, the work can be performed by any of the following ensembles: concert band (with as few as six wind players), brass ensemble, clarinet choir, saxophone choir, woodwind choir.

- Program Note from publishers (2021)


Media


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • Eastern Connecticut State University (Willimantic) Concert Band (Kelly Watkins, conductor) - 1 December 2021
  • Washington State University (Pullman) Symphonic Band (Troy Bennefield, conductor) - 15 April 2021
  • Abilene (Tx.) Christian University Wind Ensemble (Steven Ward, conductor) - 9 April 2021 *Premiere Performance*'


Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

  • The Seal Lullaby (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Ambrose) (2011/2021)
  • Sing Gently (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Mösenbichler-Bryant) (2020/2021)


All Wind Works


Resources

  • Eric Whitacre website – Accesses 25 January 2021
  • Snyder, Courtney. "Seal Lullaby." In Teaching Music through Performance in Band. Volume 9, edit. & comp. by Richard Miles, 262-268. Chicago: GIA Publications, 2013.
  • Whitacre, E.; Kipling, R. (2011). The Seal Lullaby [score]. Carpe Ranam : [North Hollywood, Calif.?]
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