Always There: SATB Choral Octavo

Jay Althouse's SATB arrangement captures the timeless appeal of Løvland's original while making it fully accessible to mixed choirs of varying experience levels. The harmonic language feels sophisticated without demanding excessive technical prowess, and the optional violin part adds elegance for programs that want to enhance the texture. This is a piece that sounds beautiful performed simply and becomes even more luminous with full orchestration.

Warm, contemplative, and gently soaring. The piece unfolds with the intimacy of a Celtic folk ballad while building moments of genuine choral power through layered harmonies. There's an unhurried quality to the harmonic progressions that feels both timeless and deeply moving.

Mixed choirs seeking repertoire that combines emotional depth with relative accessibility. Intermediate to advanced high school choirs and collegiate ensembles will find this especially rewarding, though accomplished middle school groups with strong vocal control can also succeed with it.

• Shape the phrasing to breathe with the text rather than through bar lines; the Celtic ballad feel depends on natural, speech-like inflection across longer musical phrases.
• Balance the inner voices carefully during the harmony-rich sections; these lines carry essential color and shouldn't disappear beneath the soprano melody.
• If using the optional violin part, rehearse the choir separately from the strings first to ensure both groups lock the tempo and phrasing before combining them.
• Maintain consistent vowel uniformity across all four voice parts, especially during sustained chords where blend becomes immediately audible.

Program this as the emotional centerpiece of a concert, particularly in a set exploring world music influences or inspirational themes. It works beautifully as a concert closer or paired with other pieces from the Alfred Pop Choral Series to create a cohesive modern choral program. The 12-page score is compact enough to fit comfortably into spring or fall concert planning without requiring extensive rehearsal time.

• Blending sustained chords across four voice parts
• Phrasing in a non-metric, speech-like style
• Reading and balancing interior harmonic lines
• Ensemble coordination with optional instrumental accompaniment