Go Tell It On The Mountain (arr. Rick Hein): 2-Part Choral Octavo

Rick Hein's arrangement respects the spiritual's essential character while making it genuinely singable for developing choirs. The two-part voicing stays within comfortable ranges without sacrificing the joy and vigor that make this piece come alive in performance.

Buoyant and celebratory, this arrangement captures the spiritual's infectious joy. There's an underlying solemnity too, a sense of conviction in the message that keeps the piece from becoming merely bright.

This arrangement works for middle school and high school choirs seeking accessible repertoire with cultural substance. It's equally valuable for community and church choirs wanting to include a meaningful American spiritual without technical barriers.

• Keep the energy lifted throughout. This spiritual thrives on rhythmic momentum, so maintain a steady pulse even in softer sections.
• Balance the parts carefully so the melody remains audible. In two-part writing, it's easy for accompaniment lines to overshadow the tune.
• Let the text drive your interpretation. The proclamatory quality of "go tell it" shapes everything about phrasing and emphasis.
• Encourage singers to feel the call-and-response character inherent in the spiritual tradition, even where the arrangement doesn't explicitly feature it.

Pair this with other spirituals or American folk songs to build a thematic concert section exploring roots music traditions. Its five pages and straightforward voicing make it ideal for including when you're introducing students to the cultural and historical weight of repertoire from the American songbook.

• singing in two-part harmony with independent melodic lines
• sustaining text clarity across phrase lengths
• responding to the rhythmic and stylistic conventions of the spiritual tradition
• balance between supporting and carrying melodic material