Daniel Elder
At first glance, this piece may seem way out of reach for a beginning/intermediate level HS choir. There is a lot of divisi but if you dig into it, it's all prepared very well. I'm thinking of this piece in my situation for next year, where all of the men are in one choir and combine with the advanced women's group for concerts. Musically, the piece is full of text painting and long line that are great to teach. It also is a great introduction to 8 part music. All of the dissonances or splits come from a unison note. There is rarely a leap into a harmony, unless it is part of the melody or outlining a major triad. The women's parts have most of the leaps into harmony, but they are more advanced anyway. The ranges of all of the parts (especially the men's parts) are appropriate. The only times that the men's parts go outside of comfort ranges for changed voices is when they are in unison with the other part. The piece gives opportunity to leave out the low bass if there aren't many, and many of the tenor 2 notes are doubled by the baritones if numbers are low as well. The text is a gorgeous piece, a lullaby, that is very easy to understand and express.
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