Make You Feel My Love (arr. Craig McLeish): SSATBB Choral Octavo

Craig McLeish's arrangement captures the intimate vulnerability of Dylan's composition while giving your choir genuine musical substance to explore. The SSA/SSATBB voicing allows singers at different experience levels to find their place, and the pop idiom gives students permission to sing with conversational warmth rather than formal technique.

Tender and unhurried, the piece unfolds with the intimacy of someone confessing something true. The harmonic language is warm and straightforward, creating space for vulnerability without architectural complexity.

This arrangement welcomes choirs across ability levels, particularly those working to build confidence in singers new to parts singing or seeking accessible contemporary repertoire. It works equally well for youth choirs, community ensembles, or secondary choirs wanting substantive pop repertoire that doesn't condescend.

• Resist the urge to oversell the arrangement. The strength here lives in restraint and emotional clarity, so encourage singers to listen to each other rather than project outward.
• Balance the lower voices carefully in the SSATBB sections. They should anchor the harmonic foundation without drowning out the text, which remains the emotional center.
• Work the text as spoken language first. Have singers recite the lyrics in rhythm without melody to internalize Dylan's conversational phrasing before adding the tune.

Pair this with other Dylan arrangements or pop standards to build a thematic concert around songs of devotion and connection. The four-page length makes it ideal for a concert closer where you want to send the audience out moved rather than energized.

• Maintaining pure vowels in pop idiom while avoiding overly choral tone production
• Reading SSA/SSATBB voicing with flexible part assignments
• Sustaining lyrical phrasing across longer phrases without breath-driven distraction
• Balancing ensemble blend while preserving individual word clarity