Take My Life And Let It Be

This is for an arranging project this semester - I've set the first verse of that old hymn's text for Soprano, Alto, and Baritone. It's just over a minute and a half, but that's really all it needs to be, I think. This is the first vocal/choral setting I've ever done. Any thoughts?

(You won't be able to see the text without Finale 2006 or Notepad 2006, and you won't be able to distinguish some of the repeated notes if you don't have some form of notation software.)

Whoops, I always forget the proposed format for posting compositions! Allow me to rectify this; I certainly hope my negligence is the only thing that has dissuaded people from commenting.

I used irregular meters and a quasi-Dorian mode, and I characterized the text in the melody to some degree. I worked for a little under an hour on the first draft, and took another hour fine-tuning. The music follows the form of the text, though sometimes short phrases are repeated for effect. Making various contrasting rhythms work harmonically was particularly challenging.

Uh...hi. Long time no...chat. Good to see you around again!

This piece...it seems a little 'overly' complicated. Although I do love me some 7/8. The range!!! Sweet Christ on a bicycle. You cannot write Altos anything past an F, MAYBE one G, but definitely not a run starting on a high A, they will kill you. And high Cs for a soprano are not that easy to come by either. Your 'baritone' is really a bass line, as most baritones do not possess Fs or even Gs, some of them.

Ms. 24-25, your bass Bb really sounds wierd leading into the Alto Bnatural, it's a fight between modes. Perhaps having the Alto suspend for a half note on a C then resolve down to B would be better...

Also, the rhythm seems jumpy just for the sake of being jumpy. In most of the 6/8 bars there is no real beat and it's hard to stay situated.

Other than that it's a nice little arrangment...good work!

Thanks, Nick! I've fixed the Alto range, changed the Baritone to a Bass and eliminated the low F (on which I myself am pretty weak). As for the Bb/Bnat thing, I'm surprised you noticed that! Not because of your level of skill, you've obviously got a good ear, but because it's not something I'd expect anyone to notice. I tried the C suspension, but it sounds hollow. I really like the way it is, and whatever I try to do seems to betray the sound I want. Oh well.

About the meter - any suggestions? I know this would be a really difficult piece to sing metrically, but I'm at a loss for how to change it. Maybe combine some of the pairs of 6/8s into 12/8s? Every time I switch meter, there's a reason, it's for emphasis rather than just to be jumpy, but is there a better way to score this?

Thanks again, I appreciate the input! We need to talk sometime... like sometime after finals... heh, I have my Senior Recital this week. I just never see you online anymore.

very nice and interesting handling of rhythms. loved the harmony too, good job!

To be completely honest, I didn't care for it. As an earlier poster put it, some of the meter changes don't make sense and seem to be randomly chosen. The harmony, while a little more "contemporary," didn't seem well thought out. Example: measure 6, the baritione goes "G D G" while the alto and soprano hold an F and a C. It's a fifth based chord but it doesn't fit well into the context around it. Your fourth second minor third motif that repeats itself in various places doesn't reall appeal to me, but that's just my personal preference. The "Take my moments" section is VERY repetitive, both textually, ryhtymically, and harmonically. The baritone sings "take my moments" on the same pitch in a hard to follow rythym while the soprano and alto occasionally accent the "moments." The ear quickly grows tired of hearing it and it becomes very mundane.

My main beef with it is it's VERY interval based and I'm not a big fan of that style of composition. Also, the constant meter changes bug me not because I hate meter changes (I love them, actually) but the way you used them here doesn't make sense; it seems like you changed meter for the sake of changing meter, not because it fits what you wrote.