If You Love Me: SATB, a cappella Choral Octavo

Name: If You Love Me: SATB, a cappella Choral Octavo
Brand: Alfred Music
SKU: 00-45597
Price: 1.90 USD
Availability: InStock

Words and music by Jay Althouse

Item: 00-45597

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This emotive a cappella work radiates sincerity and musicality. The text is based on a 19th-century Pennsylvanian German marriage fraktur, which is a kind of decorative calligraphy that commemorates important life events. Filled with lush contemporary chords and expressive nuances, this exceptional piece encourages artistry.

Don't just read it, hear it, play along with it, and watch your students grow with it. In MakeMusic Cloud, If You Love Me: SATB, a cappella 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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Series: Alfred Choral Designs

Publisher: Alfred Music

Page Count: 8

UPC: 038081513362

SKU: 00-45597

More about this title

About the Composer: Jay Althouse

Jay Althouse holds degrees in Music Education and Music from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where he was later recognized with the Distinguished Alumni award. His career spans both publishing and composition; he spent eight years managing rights and licensing for a major educational music publisher and served on the Executive Board of the Music Publishers Association of America. He is a prolific composer with more than 800 choral works in print, performed widely across English-speaking countries, and holds membership in ASCAP, where he has been a regular recipient of the Special Award for his compositions.

Beyond composing, Althouse has contributed extensively to music education through co-written children's musicals, curated vocal solo collections, and instructional resources including The Complete Choral Warm-up Book and Accent on Composers. He co-wrote I Hear America Singing, which was performed by the San Francisco Girls and Boys Choirs at President Barack Obama's inauguration in 2009. Currently based in Wake Forest, North Carolina, he serves on the National Advisory Board of the Folk Art Society of America and contributes regularly to the society's publications.

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Why we love this

The marriage fraktur source text gives this piece genuine historical grounding; it's not manufactured sentimentality but a real connection to folk tradition and personal ceremony. Althouse's harmonic language feels contemporary without overshadowing the text's sincerity, and the emotional arc builds naturally across eight pages, making it work equally well for a concert closer or a festival program.

What to expect

Warm, reverential, and lyrical. The lush contemporary harmonies create an intimate sound world, and the connection to 19th-century folk custom gives the whole piece a sense of quiet ceremony. This is music that invites both audience and singers into something genuine.

Who it's for

High school and adult choirs looking for an a cappella piece that honors both artistic ambition and emotional accessibility. The SATB voicing sits comfortably for most ensembles, and the historical source material appeals to singers who want their repertoire to mean something beyond the performance itself.

How to get the most out of it

Shape the harmonic progression by allowing vowels to bloom on sustained chords; resist the urge to lock in immediately. Let each voice part discover its own dynamic weight within the overall texture.
Since this is unaccompanied, establish your intonation by singing through full phrases rather than isolated notes. The lush harmonies depend on secure voice leading from each section.
Attend to the expressive nuances marked in the score; Althouse writes them sparingly, which means each marking carries interpretive weight. These are instructions, not suggestions.

How to use it

Program this as a concert centerpiece rather than a support piece; it deserves focused attention from the audience. It pairs thoughtfully with other secular works that explore themes of commitment or tradition, and works particularly well in spring concerts or those with a thematic focus on cultural heritage.

Skills your students will build

Balancing chord voicing in a cappella textures
Maintaining intonation through complex harmonic progressions without instrumental reference
Interpreting expressive markings with intent and cohesion across voice parts
Connecting text meaning to musical phrasing and dynamic shape