Arranging chorales, like painting by numbers

For myself as a conservatory undergraduate, four-part chorale writing was slow and sometimes laborious. It was a learning curve fraught with rules and clams.

Later in life I got over this and discovered that studying 4-part chorales did not have to be an academic chore; it could actually be fun, useful and educational.

Even if you yourself do not not feel up to the challenge of arranging a large scoring project – - like the Mozart arrangement I gave away last month – - a short chorale might be a more manageable thing to try out as a “mini-project.”

The basic materials needed to start are simple:

• a pencil, an eraser and staff paper
• a chorale resource – such as a hymnal or a music library collection
• time, thought and energy

For notationally-challenged novices especially, I would assert that the pencil and paper method is the preferred and superior method. For myself still, the hands-on experience of sketching with a pencil is many times better than wiggling a mouse. A computer is not required.

This exercise can help improve (among other things):

• understanding of four-part writing
• transposition skills
• music notation standards and practices
• score writing, arranging & artistic choices
  

These are all valuable  – - dare I say required? – - skills for any enterprising musician to have.

Why ‘dive in’ with chorales?

Arranging chorales is a bit like painting by numbers. Put in very plain and simple terms, it is hard to goof up a Bach chorale.

Seriously, the guy is a bona fide genius.

As an example, I have embedded a few transcriptions of my own below (RSS readers may need to click-through). These are arranged for horn quartet and admittedly, there is nothing terrifically profound here. For starters, unlike a brass or woodwind quintet arrangement, there is only one transposition when arranging for four horns.

That being said, some thought was devoted to a few important things:

• high range - making sure the Horn I doesn’t hover too high
• low range – making sure that Horn IV range is reasonable and playable
• breathing/phrasing - do I add fermati and breath marks?
• dynamics – how creative can I get?

Some chorales for instance, were ruled out immediately based solely on the first two rules.

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These choices by the way, are the first baby steps into thinking like a music arranger. Who knows? Maybe a summer project like this will spark the inner composer inside of you!

Don’t forget group benefits

The rewards of chorale arranging aren’t exclusive to the arranger! Used as a warm-up tool in your own chamber group, your chorales can help:

• improve intonation, group phrasing and pacing – through the group study of 4-part writing, score study and following a leader
• increase morale – when a member of a group steps up and writes an arrangement, it ferments and invigorates group spirit
• exercise control - why limit your group’s experiences and potential to available, printed sheet music? Who knows your group better than one of its own members?

These arguments are just a beginning. Arranging even the simplest things – - for what basically amounts to as thought, time and energy – - is something that can boost your immediate circle of spirit and musicianship in a number of ways.

All it takes is a pencil and paper.