Eric Whitacre - Seal Lullaby

Just how did The Seal Lullaby come about, and what literary source did Eric Whitacre draw upon to write it?

He's the choral composer that straddles the divide between pop and classical, but without making any concessions to either genre. Eric Whitacre truly is the modern master of choral music, and this particular work is one of the main reasons why.

The Seal Lullaby is a setting in the form of a lullaby for mixed choir and accompaniment of Rudyard Kipling's story The White Seal. It's is a beautiful story and the opening poem in this story is entitled The Seal Lullaby. The work was commissioned by the Towne Singers and is dedicated to Whitacre's friend and tutor Stephen Schwartz.