For this late-night Prom (10:30–11:30pm), celebrated American choral composer Eric Whitacre premieres his new, hour-long commission for the BBC Singers, entitled Eternity in an Hour (2024). Split into eight movements that blend into one another, each is named after the first four lines of William Blake’s poem, Auguries of Innocence: 1) To see a World; 2) In a Grain of Sand; 3) And a Heaven; 4) In a Wild Flower; 5) Hold Infinity; 6) In the palm of your hand; 7) And Eternity; 8) In an hour.

Designed as a (late-night) meditation, the work features Whitacre’s trademark vocal clusters, built around long, slow phrases, favouring homophony to prioritise the clarity of the text. But unlike Whitacre’s earlier work, this piece is extremely minimalist, centred around just one chord for almost the entirety; and eschewing a long-form text for repeated fragments of just one or two words at a time, creating a mantra-like sound more redolent of Buddhist meditation than of traditional Western text-setting.

Another major departure for Whitacre is this piece’s significant use of live electronic manipulation, performed by Whitacre himself at his own console (where he also conducts), and another console controlled by Lesjamusic (Nicholas Mark Lisher). One might worry that a traditional choral composer employing such a pervasive use of electronic effects could become gimmicky, or even intrusive, in their own composition. But here, it’s integral to the work itself. This is most clearly seen in manipulation of the echoing word “grain” in the second movement, where Whitacre splinters the sound to make it sound like a rotary synthesiser, immediately calling to mind the “grain” of digital audio processing.

The BBC Singers easily handle the tricky clashes and held notes, in addition to unclear cues led by the unpredictable unfolding of live electronics, making the piece aleatoric in form. They are ably accompanied by a small but impassioned string quartet from 12 Ensemble, and sensitive piano strokes from pianist Christopher Glynn.

Tickets for all 73 Proms are available from just £8 on the BBC Proms 2024 website.