Just a Single Voice: SATB Choral Octavo
Music by Sally K. Albrecht and Jay Althouse
Item: 00-PO-0002157
$2.25
Minimum order quantity: 20 copies
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Description
This outstanding work has a multitude of uses: Music in our Schools Month, music advocacy, graduation, concert opener. But you might sing it simply because it's a beautiful "music" song that will touch your singers. It opens with two optional solos ("It starts with just a single voice, one you barely hear."), and develops into a strong statement for music ("When voices come together, the message can be strong."). Perfect for vocal groups of any age, or for combined choral concerts.
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Additional Details
Series:
Alfred Archive Edition: Alfred Choral Designs
Publisher:
Alfred Music
Page Count:
12
SKU:
00-PO-0002157
More about this title
About the Composer: Sally K. Albrecht
Sally K. Albrecht has shaped American choral music for decades as a composer, conductor, and clinician whose work emphasizes the expressive possibilities of choral movement. Since 1987, she has received the ASCAP Special Music Award annually and maintains over 600 published choral works alongside 75 larger songbooks and musicals. She has conducted honor choirs at major venues including Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and The Kennedy Center, and spent more than thirty years directing school choral, vocal, and elementary publications at major educational music publishers, concluding her 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; M.M. in Accompanying, 1979), and has taught at Oakland University, Jersey City State College, and Meredith College. Her leadership extends beyond composition: she served as Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society and received their Pillar of Leadership award. In 2021, she was honored with the Distinguished Alumna Award from both the University of Miami Frost School of Music and Rollins College, where she serves on the Board of Trustees. She lives in Wake Forest, North Carolina, with her husband, composer and arranger Jay Althouse.
Why we love this
This piece moves beyond advocacy messaging into genuine musicality. The optional solo openings create intimate moments that contrast beautifully with the full SATB statement, and the text about collective voices carries real weight when your singers experience that transition firsthand. Directors return to this work across multiple years and occasions because it works equally well for a spring concert, graduation, or Music in Our Schools Month without feeling like a utility piece.
What to expect
The piece opens like a whisper, almost uncertain, then gradually finds its footing as voices join in. By the final statement, what began as a tentative single line becomes a confident affirmation of music's place in our lives. There's an earnestness here without sentimentality, a directness that singers and audiences find moving.
Who it's for
Any SATB choir seeking repertoire that serves both concert programming and music education advocacy. Whether your singers are high school students, college singers, or community choristers, the piece's elegant simplicity makes it accessible while its message about collective artistic power resonates across age groups.
How to get the most out of it
- Shape the opening solos with space and restraint; the power of 'just a single voice' depends on singers hearing each other and the audience feeling the quiet beginning.
- Let the transition to full choir create a genuine dynamic and textural shift. The contrast between sparse and unified voices is the heart of the arrangement.
- Balance clarity in the full SATB sections without sacrificing the warmth Albrecht writes into each voice part. This is advocacy music that invites rather than declares.
How to use it
Open a spring concert with this piece to set an affirming tone, or close one with it as a statement about why you all gather to sing together. It fits naturally into graduation programs, Music in Our Schools Month events, or concerts celebrating your choral program's impact. The optional accompaniment recording allows flexible performance options depending on your rehearsal schedule and resources.
Skills your students will build
- Singing with intentional dynamics and breath control in solo passages
- Balancing individual voice parts within a unified SATB texture
- Text expression and interpretation of advocacy themes
- Transitions between sparse and full ensemble sonorities