I've Been in the Storm So Long: SATB, a cappella Choral Octavo

Name: I've Been in the Storm So Long: SATB, a cappella Choral Octavo
Brand: Alfred Music
SKU: 00-35596
Price: 1.80 USD
Availability: InStock

Traditional Spiritual / arr. Mark Hayes

Item: 00-35596

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One of the great spirituals is skillfully arranged for mature a cappella groups. Each section of the choir shines with characteristic voice parts and occasional divisi. Superb writing with a deliberate slow groove and a wistful bluesy sound.

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Series: Alfred Choral Designs

Publisher: Alfred Music

Page Count: 12

UPC: 038081397924

SKU: 00-35596

More about this title

About the Arranger: Mark Hayes

Mark Hayes stands among the most prolific composers and arrangers in contemporary music, with over 1,750 published works spanning sacred, secular, orchestral, and keyboard genres. A summa cum laude graduate in piano performance from Baylor University, he has conducted at Lincoln Center, the National Cathedral, and Carnegie Hall, and received the 2010 Award for Exemplary Leadership in Christian Music from his alma mater.

Beyond his sacred choral output, Hayes is an accomplished orchestrator, record producer, and concert pianist whose catalog includes more than 100 piano books in styles ranging from gospel to jazz to classical. His commissions have taken him globally, from conducting a work for treble and mixed voices with orchestra in Hong Kong to presenting his Requiem at St. Ignatius Basilica in Rome as part of a Vatican-sponsored festival.

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Why we love this

Hayes captures the spiritual's profound emotional arc without resorting to arrangements that oversimplify or sentimentalize. The deliberate slow groove and bluesy inflections honor the tradition while the careful voice writing (with strategic divisi) keeps each section engaged rather than relegated to background support, making this a genuinely rewarding score for mature ensembles.

What to expect

The piece unfolds with the unhurried dignity of lived experience, grounded in a slow, deliberate groove that feels both introspective and grounded. Hayes's bluesy harmonic language lends a wistfulness that honors the spiritual's roots while the interweaving voice parts create moments of luminous warmth.

Who it's for

This arrangement serves experienced high school and college choirs as well as community and church ensembles with secure voice parts and interpretive maturity. Singers should be comfortable with independent lines and the expressive demands of spiritual idiom.

How to get the most out of it

Shape the opening phrases with rubato to reflect the wistful character; the spiritual tradition invites flexibility in phrasing even within a measured tempo.
Balance divisi passages so that inner voices don't disappear; these moments are written to enhance color, not to be swallowed by sopranos or basses.
Lean into the bluesy inflections with slight microtonal shadings on key pitches, especially in the middle sections where the arrangement draws its character.
Let the a cappella texture breathe by resisting the urge to over-blend; this arrangement gains power from the clarity of individual voice parts.

How to use it

Program this as an anchor for a concert exploring spirituals or sacred traditions, where it can sit comfortably alongside art song or classical sacred works. Its 12-page length and moderate performance demands also make it suitable as a centerpiece within a larger mixed program of American choral repertoire.