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How Can I Keep from Singing?: SAB Choral Octavo

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How Can I Keep from Singing? Cover Image
How Can I Keep from Singing?: SAB Choral Octavo

How Can I Keep from Singing?: SAB Choral Octavo

Quaker Song

Arr. Jay Althouse

Item: 00-40053
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Description
Singers will cherish this sublime Quaker song, taken from our rich heritage of American folk music. As experienced conductors have come to expect from the gifted arranger, Jay's setting is artful in its simplicity, elegant in its effect.

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Additional Details
Series: Alfred Choral Designs
Publisher: Alfred Music
Page Count: 8
UPC: 038081447087
SKU: 00-40053

More about this title

About the Arranger: Jay Althouse

Jay Althouse

Jay Althouse holds degrees in Music Education and Music from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where he was honored as a Distinguished Alumnus. His career spans both publishing and composition; he spent eight years managing rights and licenses for a major educational music publisher and served on the Executive Board of the Music Publishers Association of America. As a composer, he has over 800 choral works in print and maintains active membership in ASCAP, receiving the Special Award multiple times for his contributions to standard choral music.

Beyond his compositional work, Althouse has collaborated with his wife Sally K. Albrecht on children's musicals and edited influential vocal collections including Folk Songs for Solo Singers. He co-authored The Complete Choral Warm-up Book and Accent on Composers, and created classroom resources such as Ready to Read Music and One-Page Composer Bios. His arrangement of I Hear America Singing was performed by the San Francisco Girls and Boys Choirs at President Barack Obama's 2009 Inauguration. Currently based in North Carolina, he serves on the National Advisory Board of the Folk Art Society of America and contributes regularly to its quarterly publication.

Why we love this

Althouse's gift is knowing when to step back. This arrangement honors the melody's inherent beauty without obscuring it behind unnecessary voicing gymnastics, making it accessible for developing singers while remaining musically satisfying for accomplished choirs. The three-part writing sits comfortably and opens the piece to mixed ensembles of varying experience levels, yet the harmonic support gives singers genuine musicality to perform.

What to expect

Quietly resolute. The Quaker hymn carries an understated spiritual conviction, neither sentimental nor austere. Althouse's setting amplifies this restraint, allowing the text to resonate without decorative flourish.

Who it's for

SAB choirs looking for repertoire that bridges developing and experienced singers without condescension. This piece works equally well for community choirs, church ensembles, and school programs seeking accessible American sacred music.

How to get the most out of it

  • Let the text breathe. This is a declaration of faith, not a dramatic utterance; resist the urge to oversell the opening phrases.
  • Balance the three parts so the melody always projects clearly, especially where the altos and sopranos share thematic material.
  • Shape the arch of each phrase by attending to the harmonic rhythm rather than pushing toward obvious emotional peaks.

How to use it

Program this as a centerpiece for a concert exploring American sacred roots, or pair it with other folk hymns for a thematic set. Its emotional directness makes it effective as a choral closer, leaving audiences with reflection rather than spectacle.

Skills your students will build

  • Singing folk-derived melodies with historical awareness
  • Balancing three independent vocal lines in SAB voicing
  • Sustaining long phrases with consistent breath support
  • Interpreting text-driven phrasing in sacred music

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