Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder: TTBB Choral Octavo

$2.95 USD

Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder: TTBB Choral Octavo

Name: Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder: TTBB Choral Octavo
Brand: Alfred Music
SKU: 00-LG51757
Price: 2.95 USD
Availability: InStock

Arr. Robert DeCormier

Item: 00-LG51757

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Series: Alfred Archive Edition: Lawson-Gould Music Publishers

Publisher: Alfred Music

Page Count: 16

UPC: 783556008859

SKU: 00-LG51757

More about this title

About the Arranger: Robert DeCormier

Robert DeCormier earned his degree from Juilliard and built a career spanning classical conducting, Broadway music direction, and folk music arrangement. He led the Robert DeCormier Singers on concert tours across North America, served as music director of the New York Choral Society for seventeen years, and directed the Peter, Paul and Mary organization from 1978 to 2010. His work ranged from opera to spirituals to international folk repertoire, and he held faculty positions at the Eastman School of Music during the 1970s.

Beyond his conducting work, DeCormier founded the professional vocal ensemble Counterpoint in 2000, which recorded six albums and brought workshops and concerts to high school choirs throughout New England and beyond. His contributions to American music earned him the Vermont Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts (2002) and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the New England Choral Arts Foundation (2006). His arrangements and compositions continue to serve choirs seeking authentic, accessible settings of folk and spiritual traditions.

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Why we love this

DeCormier's arrangement captures the folk authenticity that defined his career while making the piece singable and rewarding for men's choirs at multiple skill levels. The flexible voicing options (TB/TTB/TBB/TTBB) let you match your ensemble's strengths without compromising the arrangement's character. An arranger with real experience conducting folk music knows how to honor the tradition while serving the singers in front of him.

What to expect

Warm and grounded, with the comfortable familiarity of a work song sung by voices that know the landscape it comes from. The piece breathes with the ease of tradition passed from singer to singer, inviting both performers and listeners into a moment of genuine connection rather than display.

Who it's for

Men's choirs ranging from high school to community and semi-professional levels will find this arrangement accessible yet musically substantial. Directors seeking secular repertoire with roots in American folk tradition and cultural authenticity will appreciate DeCormier's approach.

How to get the most out of it

Maintain the conversational, storytelling quality throughout; this is not a concert hall piece performed at a distance from the audience, but rather an intimate sharing of a work song.
Balance the harmonic depth in the lower voices without letting them overshadow the melody, especially in the TTBB voicing where the second tenor carries important counter-melodic material.
Lean into the rhythmic flexibility of folk song; avoid metronomic precision in favor of natural phrasing that mirrors how the text would be spoken.

How to use it

Pair this with other American folk arrangements to build a thematic concert around labor songs, migration narratives, or regional traditions. It also works well as a choral interlude in a program mixing genres, offering the audience a chance to hear your ensemble in relaxed, human terms before returning to more formal repertoire.