All the Little Angels - Furtak

SATB, a cappella.  This would work for a church service or a more secular event.  For all the empty desks and voices missing from playgrounds across the United States.  

All the little angels rise. See how they rise?

All the little angels rise. Tell me how they rise.

They rise up to heaven with their rain boots on,

puddle stompin’ then they’re gone.

All the little angels rise. See how they rise?

All the little angels rise. See how they rise?

All the little angels rise. Tell me how they rise.

They rise up to heaven a-playin' drums:

pots and pans and kitchen tongs.

All the little angels rise. See how they rise?

All the little angels rise. See how they rise?

All the little angels rise. Tell me how they rise.

They rise up to heaven with their jammies on,

rosy toes and then they’re gone.

All the little angels rise. See how they rise?

Hi @pateceramics,

There's certainly influence from spirituals since it's predominant with the syncopations and the added notes. Just one thing to note: does the piano have to repeat the voices throughout the whole piece? I feel like you can add some piano interludes between the vocal passages and have some accompaniments in the Piano LH, instead of repeating what the voices are singing all the time! Thx for sharing!

Henry

2 hours ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

Hi Just one thing to note: does the piano have to repeat the voices throughout the whole piece? I feel like you can add some piano interludes between the vocal passages and have some accompaniments in the Piano LH, instead of repeating what the voices are singing all the time!

 

Hi Henry!  Thank you for taking a listen.  Yes, I meant for it to be very much in "old time" style, like shape note music, or the songs in the soundtrack to "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?"  The piano reduction is just for use in rehearsal to learn notes.  The piece should ideally be performed a cappella. 🙂. 

1 hour ago, pateceramics said:

The piano reduction is just for use in rehearsal to learn notes.  The piece should ideally be performed a cappella. 🙂. 

Sorry that I miss the "SATB, a cappella" right at the beginning! How dare I ask this stupid question?

It's the first time I've heard of shape note music. What is it?

Henry

It was a solfège-style technique of teaching music popular in New England and south to the Appalachians starting in the 1700s.  Where towns were isolated enough that not every place had someone who could read music, itinerant music teachers would travel from community to community, teaching group sight reading lessons, and then leave books of four-part a cappella music behind that people could read and sing themselves.  Tunes are usually sung all the way through the first time on solfège syllables, (Do re mi fa so...) and then on the words, and any voice is allowed to sing any part they like, so you have basses singing the "soprano" part down the octave, and sopranos singing the "bass" part up the octave, resulting in lots of doubled octaves.  Open fifths are also completely acceptable and characteristic of the style.  Here's a historic example, but people still get together in shape note singing clubs and sing today:  

Sorry, I was running out the door, so the above may note have been the clearest explanation.  But it's called "shape note" singing because the notes use shaped noteheads to indicate their scale degree as an aid to sight reading.  Some people use a 7 note system of note names, that should feel familiar to anyone who has watched "The Sound of Music":  (Doh, a deer, a female deer...).  Other people use a four named note system which is arguably easier to learn where the note names repeat as you ascend the scale.  Here's a major scale using the four note system:  (fa, sol, la, fa, sol, la, mi, fa).  Every fa notehead is shaped like a triangle, every sol is a standard round notehead, every la uses a square notehead.  The notes are still written on a standard staff with a key signature at the beginning, eighth notes still have flags and whole notes still have no stems, but the shaped noteheads are an extra guidepost to aid in finding pitches during sight singing.  Some of the more popular historical books of shape note music, ("The Sacred Harp," for example), are still in print, and you can buy a copy and then go to a singing party and sing along.  

But in short, yes, I was going for a more folk chorale style with this piece, instead of a Bach chorale style.