Premiere of "God Bless America" Arrangement for Chorus and Band

In 2004, Dr. Steven Weber, Director of Choral Activities at Amarillo College and Director of the Amarillo Civic Chorus asked me to write a new arrangement of "God Bless America" for the Amarillo College Chorus and Band with opera star Mary Jane Johnson as soloist. They wanted to perform it for the Amarillo College graduation on May 13, 2005. What a great opportunity for an arranger/composer! When arranging for instrumentalists, I'm definitely in my comfort zone but in 2004, arranging vocal music was still a learning experience for me.

The first consideration I needed to make is to figure out a maze of what keys to use. These were just a few factors I had to consider:

1. Modulate AT LEAST once in the piece with a middle section to highlight the band
2. Get Mary Jane's voice up to a high Bb in the final measures.
3. Make sure the band was always in a "friendly" key (which means not too many sharps)
4. Make sure the chorus was always in a "friendly" range

I observed the band and the chorus during their regular rehearsals to see what strengths I could use in the arrangement. I listened for technique and range in both groups. An arranger needs to know his performers before writing so that the parts are not too difficult nor too easy.

I started "mapping" out the layout such as modulations, what group (solo, woodwinds, brass, female chorus, male chorus, etc) would be featured and where I wanted the climax of the piece to occur. Of course, most choral/instrumental pieces have an "a cappella" section so I needed to consider where that would be. When I arrange or compose I like to write something interesting for every part so that each performer has something to look forward to. (I guess my years of playing boring, left-over 2nd oboe parts has made an impression on me.) I even think about the conductor and try to give him something that is going to be fun to conduct.

Thank goodness I live in an age of music software for the computer! Writing a piece like this was much easier when using Finale software. (Don't worry Sibelius software users, I'm not trying to promote only Finale.) It's so great to be able to put the notes into the computer and try out all kinds of ideas without lifting an eraser. If I want to try a key change in this place but then find out it causes a problem somewhere else… no big deal, just revert to an old SAVE or hit that undo key. Can you imagine what Mozart could have done with a computer?

After getting the first draft done which still had a lot of band parts to be written, I submitted a choral score with piano accompaniment to Steve Weber. That's an important step when writing for a large ensemble like this. Even if you don't plan to have a piano part in the instrumentation, you still need to write a rehearsal piano part for the chorus. This would basically be a reduction of the band parts. Steve has a great chorus at Amarillo College that is very flexible. As we both listened to just the chorus and piano accompaniment, Steve made some great suggestions on splitting parts more than what I had which gave it a richer and fuller sound. Steve is very good at telling his ensemble how to try different voicings. I certainly learned a lot just in that one rehearsal.

I remember the first rehearsal with the full band, chorus, and Mary Jane Johnson. I realize being an opera star requires one to have a huge voice to project in the big halls but I can honestly tell you, I still get a thrill with the power of Mary Jane Johnson's voice. I remember standing next to her singing while the band played full volume. Believe it or not, I really had trouble hearing the band over her voice! It amazes me how one human voice can be more powerful than a full concert band. I guess that's one of the many reasons she's the opera star.

After tweaking parts here and there, the arrangement was ready to go. I attended the dress rehearsal for the graduation and then came to the graduation that same day. It was so thrilling! When the piece was announced as a "world premiere", I got a lump in my throat.

Click here to listen to a sample of the premiere performance:
God_Bless_America

Many thanks to the Amarillo College Band, the Amarillo College Chorus, and the very wonderful Mary Jane Johnson for their great work on this arrangement. Many thanks also to Scott Beckett for preparing the AC Band and playing whatever instruments needed to be covered at all the performances, plus his generosity in providing the above recording. I also owe a lot of thanks Steve Weber and Amarillo College for giving me the opportunity to arrange for such a large group.

Polk St. United Methodist Church requested that I transcribe this arrangement from band to orchestra.  Find out more.

Click here to see the   video of the orchestral premiere at Polk St. United Methodist Church.