The Snow Begins to Fall - Beck

Title: The Snow Begins to Fall
Composer/Lyricist: Andy Beck
Publisher: Alfred
Catalogue #: 21802
JW Pepper Cat. #: 3298569 (2-part - reviewed)
Price: $1.65 (as of 8/6/09)
Duration: 2:45
Voicing: 2-part (reviewed), SSA, SAB, SATB
Obligatto: None
Key: e-minor
Tessitura: Pt1: d-e', Pt2: c-b'
Piano Difficulty: Moderate
Recording Available: partial recording at - http://www.alfred.com/mp3/00-21802_!.mp3


Notes: This review is only about the 2-part arrangement, as I have not had a chance to look at the other arrangements. It is a lovely piece to expose younger choirs to minor key or a quick read for an advanced choir. Very nearly SA, rather than 2-part, the chorus is 2-part, while the verses are largely homophonic. The piano part is not especially difficult to play, but may require the use of a page turner.

Rhythm consists largely of eighth note/quarter note combinations in the chorus (Part 1 has eighth notes on the first 2 beats followed by a quarter note on beat 3, and eighth note pick-ups to the next measure on beat 4, with Part 2 echoes with a half note followed by 4 eighth notes). The challenge comes in putting both parts together - they almost feel like a partner song, but the similar workding may throw off some beginning choirs. The verses trade off the melody between the parts, with the other providing descant. Challenging rhythms here are the dotted quarter/eighth note combinations that occur frequently enough to provide plenty of practice and repetition for singers. Unfortunately, no rehearsal notes are given in the octavo (this is common with Alfred octavos).

Melodically, the challenge comes in the verses, with the homophonic descants and switching melody. Singers will need to be aware of which parts has the melody to be effectively exdpressive. Be aware of the first phrase in particular - singers will want to sing re-ti instead of the re-la that is written (a'-f#, rather than a'-e for those who prefer absolute pitch notation rather than moveable-la solfege). The descending chromatic motion of Part 1 from e'-b' in mm. 32-33, and 40-41 (and to a lesser extend in m. 34 and 42 for Part 2) will provide quite a challenge for beginning singers - the tendency will obviously be to go flat or fast - or both! Fortunately, the piano reinforces the choir in all of these places.

Beck brilliantly makes the chorus rhythmically challenging and the verses melodically challenging so that singers are not overwhelmed at any point. However, he manages to do so without sacrificing the overall integrity of the piece. For that reason, it is perfect for school choirs, especially advanced elementary choirs, and middle and high school choirs (with the alternate arrangements).

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.