My Romance (arr. Burt Szabo): TTBB Choral Octavo

Burt Szabo's arrangement takes a beloved standard and reshapes it for barbershop sensibilities, preserving the song's sophisticated harmonic language while creating opportunities for blend, vowel unity, and the rich sonorities barbershop voicing demands. This is a piece that teaches musicianship without feeling like a teaching piece; singers come away with better ears and better ensemble instincts.

Tender and conversational, "My Romance" exhales warmth without losing elegance. Szabo's arrangement sits comfortably in the male voice while maintaining the song's inherent lyricism, creating moments of genuine tenderness within the structural clarity barbershop style provides. Singers feel the romantic sentiment of the text without ever sacrificing precision or blend.

This octavo serves TTBB ensembles with some harmonic literacy and experience blending in close voicings. It works equally well for high school barbershop groups looking for standard repertoire, college men's choirs wanting to expand beyond traditional classical writing, and masters-level ensembles seeking to teach younger singers how sophisticated pop songwriting translates to the barbershop idiom.

• Spend rehearsal time on vowel placement across the four parts, particularly in sustained chords where balance becomes transparent. Small adjustments to mouth shape create dramatic improvements in blend.
• The barbershop voicing creates natural ring in certain harmonies; lean into those moments rather than fighting them. Let students hear where the overtones align.
• Treat phrase endings with rhythmic precision. Barbershop style rewards crisp cutoffs that honor the harmonic structure rather than lingering sentimentality.
• If your ensemble is unfamiliar with barbershop style, isolate the harmonic progressions by having singers hold them on a neutral syllable before adding text. This builds security and intuition about the arrangement's architecture.

Open a concert with this if you want to establish sophisticated harmony and ensemble control early; its clarity sets a high bar and reassures the audience you mean business. Alternatively, program it as a palate cleanser between heavier classical or contemporary works, or use it as an encore that leaves audiences with a song they recognize and can hum on the way home.

• Blend and balance in close four-part voicings
• Vowel consistency across octave doublings
• Barbershop harmonic tendencies and voice leading conventions
• Phrase shaping within a straightforward harmonic framework
• Sustaining ensemble cohesion in predominantly sustained harmonic texture