Hymn To Freedom – Oscar Peterson, arr. by Hovi

Title: Hymn To Freedom
Composer/Lyricist: Oscar Petersen, arr. by Seppo Hovi
Publisher: Walton Music Group
Catalogue #: WW1135
JW Pepper Cat. #: SSA (reviewed) 3118130, SATB 3118155
Price: $1.75 SSA, $1.85 SATB
Duration: 2:30
Voicing: SSA (reviewed), SATB
Obligatto: None, but inclusion of jazz trio is recommended
Key: C
Tessitura: Pt. 1: c-e', Pt. 2: c – d', Pt. 3: G-a'. All parts: c-c'
Piano Difficulty: Easy/Moderate
Recording Available: http://www.jwpepper.com/sheet-music/mp3player.jsp?song_url=3118155.mp3&song_title=HYMN%20TO%20FREEDOM&filename=/dbload/C/C_3118155.xml

Notes: Classic music of jazz pianist Oscar Peterson and an inspiring text combine wonderfully in this octavo. Detailed notes (by Doreen Rao) on the inside cover of the octavo provide some illuminating light on the history of the arrangement. It is accessible for older treble choirs – I'd hesitate to add anything other than the descant to the melody with an younger/inexperienced choir. This feels more like a true SSA arrangement, rather than a 3-part as in indicated by the publisher. Middle school and High School treble choirs will be very successful with this.

Rhythmically, there is not much challenge here – no changing meter, written in 4, consisting mostly of eighth notes and quarter notes. The only potentially problematic construction may be the quarter note followed by an eighth note, followed by an eighth note tied to a half note in mm. 8, 16, 24, 32, and 35. It will be problematic only at first sight, as it feels very comfortable in performance.

The part writing is what makes this piece so challenging and appropriate for older/experienced choirs. As written before, this is much more an SSA arrangement than a 3-part arrangement. Fortunately, the melody sings itself and will be mastered very quickly. This could be a problem for younger/inexperienced choirs who do not discriminate parts well. The most obvious areas of concern are the parallel ascending 3rds in mm. 9-10, and 25-26, and the close harmonies in mm 22-24 and 27-40. The third (alto) part goes very low for young adolescent (read: middle school), but if you're in a middle school and are blessed with a group of girls who can sink low into their chest voices, then you should bring the part out proudly! The parallel thirds in descant in mm. 19-20 between Parts 1 and 2 will need some special attention as well. The ending (mm. 36-40) will also require more dedicated rehearsal time than other places. I personally find the a bit cheesy, but that's in keeping with the tone of the piece. As a matter of personal taste, I'd eliminate the piano roll in m. 40 and replace with a good strong chord on the downbeat and another one at the cut-off.

As a final note to educators, the melody is very easily solfeged and the 2nd and 3rd parts allow for exploration of chromatic solfege or can be taught by rote. This also makes a very effective closer for any concert, or a stand-alone piece for special performances for school groups.

Jesus Christ the Apple Tree - Poston

Title: Jesus Christ the Apple Tree
Composer/Lyricist: Elizabeth Poston
Publisher: Banks Music Publications (dist. by Hal Leonard)
Catalogue #: ECS 141 (HL08300514)
JW Pepper Cat. #: 5283163
Price: $2.10 (JW Pepper)
Duration: approx. 3:00
Voicing: unison, SA, SSAA, SATB, piano OR a capella
Obligatto: None
Key: C
Tessitura: Unis: c-g'; S1: c-g', S2: c-a', A1:a-g, A2:G-d; S:c-g', A:c-a', T:C-f, B:C-d
Piano Difficulty: N/A
Recording Available: no known public recording available


Notes: I love this piece for many reasons, not least of all are these two: 1) this piece is incredibly flexible, lending itself to any number of voicing combinations and 2) because it's written in the key of C, even a beginning unison choir can have some degree of success reading it with solfege. For that reason alone, choral educators should love this piece, especially for a middle or high school chorus. Even an elementary chorus can do some rudimentary solfege exploration. The only difficulty can be with so many skips and so little stepwise motion - it can be a bit frustrating if singers do not have much experience singing skips. Also, because the melody hangs quite a bit on the ti-do pitch pattern, it may have a tendancy to go flat. Energetic singing is a must to keep this piece in tune!

The song has no meter, so I say feel free to be as interpretive (read: rubato) as you like - personally, I suggest keeping a feeling of plainchange and letting the singers take control of the temp once they havce sufficiently mastered and internalized the music. There are some internal indications of where to take breaths and pause for effect (dotted quarter notes, breath marks, double bar lines), but it is left to the conductor to determine other places to do so, or to ignore them entirely - e.g. at m 20 there is a double bar line, but no comma in the text to support breaking up the phrase. Only the half cadence in the music hints at it, but it is not the text itself that does so.

All in all, "Jesus Christ the Apple Tree" is a fantastic teaching tool, as well as a remarkably flexible and beautiful piece of music. What a melody line reminiscent of Appalahia, this is a surefire winner for any choral ensemble.