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Saints Bound for Heaven: SSAA, <i>a cappella</i> Choral Octavo

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Saints Bound for Heaven Cover Image
Saints Bound for Heaven: SSAA, a cappella Choral Octavo

Saints Bound for Heaven: SSAA, a cappella Choral Octavo

Traditional / arr. Alice Parker and Robert Shaw

Item: 00-38217
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Description
This lively traditional spiritual, originally recorded by the Robert Shaw Chorale (SATB), reflects the joy of the text. Now available for a cappella SSAA and TTBB choirs. "Hail the glorious jubilee!"

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Additional Details
Series: Lawson-Gould
Publisher: Alfred Music
Page Count: 12
UPC: 038081426884
SKU: 00-38217

More about this title

About the Arranger: Alice Parker

Alice Parker

Alice Parker studied composition and conducting at Smith College and the Juilliard School, where she began a decades-long creative partnership with Robert Shaw. Together they shaped an extensive catalog of arrangements of American folksongs, hymns, and spirituals that remain central to choral repertoires across the United States and internationally.

Parker went on to compose over five hundred works spanning operas, cantatas, song cycles, and individual anthems. In 1985, she founded MELODIOUS ACCORD, INC., an organization devoted to the study and practice of melody in vocal music. She authored influential books on melodic style, choral improvisation, and church music, including the widely used *Melodious Accord: Good Singing in Church*. Her honors include the Robert Shaw Award from the American Choral Directors Association, the Harvard Glee Club Foundation Medal, and six honorary doctorates. She served as Director Laureate of Chorus America and was recognized as Distinguished Composer of the Year by the American Guild of Organists.

Why we love this

This arrangement brings infectious joy to the spiritual tradition while solving the real programming challenge of finding energetic sacred music suited to SSAA voicing. Parker and Shaw's deep understanding of both spiritual idiom and choral sonority ensures the parts sit comfortably while maintaining the exuberant character that made the original recording so beloved.

What to expect

A burst of energy and celebration. The arrangement sparkles with the brightness of upper voices in harmony, capturing the historical joy of the text with straightforward, joyful musical gestures that feel both authentic and immediately singable.

Who it's for

SSAA choruses seeking a rousing spiritual that works well for concert audiences and services alike. The piece rewards choirs with flexible musicianship and a comfort level with American sacred music traditions.

How to get the most out of it

  • Emphasize the rhythmic drive of the text; the spiritual's traditional energy depends on crisp articulation and a sense of forward momentum rather than sustained legit singing.
  • Work the second soprano line with special attention to its independence; it often carries counter-melodic material that will brighten the overall texture if sung with confidence.
  • Support the natural dialect and inflection of the spiritual idiom through rehearsal and modeling; this arrangement thrives on conversational phrasing rather than formal restraint.
  • Let the a cappella texture breathe by attending to dynamic contrast; the jubilant quality comes through more vividly when you shape phrases rather than sustain at a single level.

How to use it

Place this near the end of a concert to leave audiences with genuine exuberance, or program it in a service context where spiritual joy and affirmation anchor the liturgy. It pairs naturally with other American sacred repertoire and works especially well in a set of spirituals or songs of hope.

Skills your students will build

  • maintaining rhythmic precision and energy in a cappella singing
  • balancing independent vocal lines in close harmony
  • authentic interpretation of spiritual idiom and phrasing
  • blending upper voices for unified sonority across two soprano parts

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