Water Night

Water Night is one of composer Eric Whitacre's earliest works, written in 1995 during his attendance at University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and commissioned by the Dale Warland Singers.

This use of tonic beneath moving dissonance paints an initial sensation of darkness and irregularity, and is maintained an octave lower in measures 6-15.

Whitacre then immediately shifts the established current with a subito forte entrance by the women on a B♭ minor triad, echoed by the men two beats into the measure.

Measures 25-26 echo the irregular opening in "silence and solitude," and 26-27 feature a melodically-absent duet between the soprano and alto consisting of minor seconds and perfect fourths.In measures 28-52, Whitacre draws the listener by invitation on a crescendo to "drink in [...] eyes [...and] waters", until one can finally "open your eyes".

This gradually deflates to measure 41, back to the "night", the chord composed of another A-flat mixolydian scale and the bass on supertonic of the relative major.