Only When I Sleep (arr. Martin Cornelissen): SSAA Choral Octavo

Martin Cornelissen's arrangement captures the wistful, introspective quality of the original while opening it up for four-part women's voices in ways that feel natural rather than forced. The expanded page count allows for genuine musical development instead of squeezing a complex song into minimal space, giving your singers room to shape phrases and build the emotional arc that makes this song resonate.

The piece inhabits that liminal space between sleep and waking, between certainty and doubt. There's an intimacy to it, a sense of vulnerability that The Corrs' original conveys beautifully and this arrangement preserves through careful voice leading and space within the texture.

This arrangement works for women's choirs at the intermediate to advanced level who want to perform accessible contemporary music with real harmonic substance. It suits directors programming a concert that spans genres without sacrificing musicality, and singers who enjoy pop repertoire but want something more sophisticated than typical top-40 arrangements.

• Pay attention to the vowel consistency between soprano and second soprano lines during the moments they diverge; small adjustments to mouth shape prevent the sections from sounding disconnected.
• Let the altos anchor the harmonic foundation, especially in passages where they sustain under moving upper voices. Their steadiness determines whether the texture feels grounded or thin.
• Shape the dynamics across entire phrases rather than within individual measures. This song breathes best when your singers hear it as one long musical thought across the verse and chorus.

Nest this alongside other contemporary or folk-influenced works to show how tradition and pop idioms can coexist. It pairs well in a concert that explores storytelling through song or works beautifully as a moment of introspection within a program of higher-energy material.

• Sustained legit singing in a contemporary idiom without sacrificing proper technique
• Four-part independence across soprano and alto sections during polyphonic passages
• Emotional control and subtext work suited to intimate vocal music
• Blend and balance in arrangements where moving lines sit above sustained harmonies