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I Am a Small Part of the World: SSA Choral Octavo

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I Am a Small Part of the World Cover Image
I Am a Small Part of the World: SSA Choral Octavo

I Am a Small Part of the World: SSA Choral Octavo

Music by Sally K. Albrecht and Jay Althouse

Item: 00-20074
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Description
A stirring text combined with solid choral writing make this an ideal choice for concerts and festivals. Perfect for massed choirs or for any size choir. Starts small, builds, and then ends quietly: 'I am a small part of the world. Take my hand.' A dramatic choral work, full of strength, power and determination.

Don't just read it, hear it, play along with it, and watch your students grow with it. In MakeMusic Cloud, I Am a Small Part of the World: SSA Choral Octavo comes alive with professional accompaniment, adjustable tempo, and built-in practice tools that turn solo practice into real progress.

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Additional Details
Series: Alfred Archive Edition: Alfred Choral Designs
Publisher: Alfred Music
Page Count: 12
UPC: 038081186382
SKU: 00-20074

More about this title

About the Composer: Sally K. Albrecht

Sally K. Albrecht

Sally K. Albrecht has shaped American choral music for decades as a composer, conductor, and clinician with deep expertise in choral movement and staging. Since 1987, she has received the ASCAP Special Music Award annually, accumulating over 600 choral publications and 75 larger musicals and songbooks. Her conducting credits span major venues including Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and The Kennedy Center, where she has led honor choirs and festivals nationwide. For more than thirty years, she directed choral, vocal, and elementary publications at major educational music publishers, including a long tenure at Alfred Music.

Albrecht holds degrees from Rollins College (B.A. in Music and Theater, 1976), the University of Miami (M.A. in Drama, 1977, and M.M. in Accompanying, 1979), and has taught at Oakland University in Michigan, Jersey City State College in New Jersey, and Meredith College in North Carolina. She currently resides in Wake Forest, North Carolina, where she collaborates with her husband, composer and arranger Jay Althouse. Her leadership extends beyond composition; she has chaired the Board of Trustees for the Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society and received their Pillar of Leadership award. In 2021, both Rollins College and the University of Miami Frost School of Music honored her as Distinguished Alumna.

Why we love this

Albrecht and Althouse craft pieces that balance emotional resonance with practical musicality, and this octavo exemplifies both strengths. The architecture of this piece, unfolding from intimate restraint to powerful statement and back again, gives your singers a genuine dramatic arc to inhabit rather than merely perform. The text itself carries weight without preaching, making it an honest choice for ceremonies that call for reflection and unity.

What to expect

The piece opens with a quiet, almost confessional honesty, then grows into something far larger and more insistent. There's determination and collective strength in the middle sections, yet the composers never lose sight of the intimate scale promised by the text. The final return to quietness carries weight precisely because it follows the build, leaving listeners with both introspection and resolve.

Who it's for

This piece suits choirs of any size, from intimate ensembles to massed festival formations. Directors seeking meaningful repertoire for graduation ceremonies, peace-focused programming, or Earth Day observances will find a piece that speaks sincerely without sentimentality. SSA voicing makes it accessible for treble choirs while the optional SSAA arrangement accommodates mixed ensembles.

How to get the most out of it

  • Shape the opening section with restraint and clarity so the later building moments feel earned; resist the urge to enter at full volume.
  • Attend closely to the dynamic and textural shifts marked in the score; they are the bones of the piece's emotional journey.
  • If using movement or staging options, rehearse them separately from the vocal work first, then integrate gradually so singers can manage both layers.
  • The recorded accompaniment (available separately) offers a strong harmonic foundation; use it in early rehearsals to lock chord changes and build confidence.

How to use it

Program this as a centerpiece for spring concerts focused on themes of community, environmental awareness, or transition. Its emotional arc works beautifully as a final piece before intermission or as the closing number of a program, giving audiences a chance to sit with its message. The flexibility of the voicing and optional staging means it functions equally well in a solo choir concert or alongside festival massed choir performances.

Skills your students will build

  • Dynamic control across a multi-section structure
  • Balancing ensemble blend with individual voice clarity in SSA voicing
  • Following marked textural changes to support musical storytelling
  • Coordinating movement or staging with vocal performance (if movement option is used)

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