Embraceable You: TTBB Choral Octavo

Jay Althouse's arrangement captures the sophisticated harmonic language that made this standard iconic while keeping the piece accessible for high school and college choirs. The flexible voicing (TB/TTB/TBB/TTBB) means you can program it regardless of your ensemble's strength in any given voice part. An all-male choir can sing a legitimate, jazz-inflected masterwork without compromise.

A warm, intimate declaration wrapped in the harmonic sophistication of 1930s New York. The melody glides over chords that shift subtly beneath it, creating a feeling of ease and confidence. This is the sound of a standard that has earned its place in the repertoire.

TTBB choirs seeking a sophisticated jazz standard that challenges harmonically without overwhelming technically. This works equally well for high school treble-heavy groups using flexible voicing and college or adult ensembles singing full four-part texture.

• Balance the jazz inflection with the melodic sophistication underneath. This is not novelty music; the harmony deserves clarity and commitment from all four parts.
• Pay attention to the lyrical phrasing of Ira Gershwin's words. Treat the text with the same care you would give to classical choral literature.
• Let the arrangement breathe. Gershwin's music thrives on subtle rhythmic flexibility and space between phrases, not relentless forward drive.
• Use light vocal production in the upper voices to maintain transparency when the soloists or featured sections emerge from the ensemble.

Pair this with other Broadway standards or 20th-century American works to create a concert section celebrating the American songbook. It also serves as an excellent anchor piece when you want to program jazz-adjacent choral music alongside classical repertoire, showing students how genre boundaries blur in sophisticated arranging.

• Singing over jazz chord changes and chromatic voice leading
• Maintaining clarity in four-part male voicing with rich harmonic texture
• Phrasing and text interpretation in a popular song idiom
• Sight-reading flexible voicing (TTBB with TB/TTB/TBB options)