Look to the Rainbow: SATB Choral Octavo

Strommen's arrangement captures the soaring optimism of Lane's original without overshooting what a Grade 3 choir can handle; the piece sits well for voices across all four parts and the optional flute adds dimension without requiring advanced musicianship. Audiences respond immediately to this melody because it's genuinely tuneful and emotionally open, giving your singers something rewarding to perform rather than just execute.

Hopeful and wistful at once, with the kind of singable melody that feels like it already exists in the listener's memory. The arrangement breathes space around the harmony, allowing the text and emotion to shine without harmonic clutter.

Choirs at the intermediate level who need accessible Broadway material with genuine emotional content. This works equally well for high school choirs building confidence and middle school ensembles ready to move beyond unison arrangements.

• Balance the soprano and alto lines in the opening so the melody emerges clearly; they share the tune and need to blend as a single voice rather than compete.
• Shape the phrase endings with a slight ritardando and diminuendo to honor the song's reflective quality and let the text land.
• If you include the optional flute part, rehearse it separately with your piano first to lock the obbligato rhythms before adding full choir.
• Layer in dynamics gradually during rehearsal; many ensembles default to singing everything at one volume, but this arrangement rewards subtle contrasts between sections.

This pairs beautifully in a spring or end-of-year concert where you want a moment of genuine warmth alongside more energetic fare. It also works as a closing number when you want the audience to leave humming something they'll remember.

• Sustaining long phrases with consistent breath support
• Blending four-part harmony in a tonal, accessible context
• Shaping melodic lines with dynamic contrast and phrase direction
• Reading and balancing optional instrumental obbligatos with vocal lines