Song of Peace Cover Image

Song of Peace: 3-Part Choral Octavo

$1.65 USD
$1.65 USD
Skip to product information
Song of Peace Cover Image
Song of Peace: 3-Part Choral Octavo

Song of Peace: 3-Part Choral Octavo

Arr. Jay Althouse

Item: 00-21789
$1.65
Shipped

One moment…

Description
One of Frederic Chopin's most popular Etudes with a timely text and a skillful choral adaptation by Jay Althouse. "O, grant us peace in time of tribulation." The harmonically rich piece opens with tender, soft singing, gradually builds to a spectacular and full "Dona nobis pacem" (the only Latin text in the piece), and then fades to another striking pianissimo in it's final bars. Glorious, Romantic singing.

Song of Peace: 3-Part Choral Octavo isn't in MakeMusic Cloud just yet...but it could be. Let us know you'd like to see it, and you'll help shape what comes next. In the meantime, start a free trial and dive into thousands of interactive titles your students can play along with today.

Request This Title

Tell us you want it.

Start Your Free Trial

Explore everything that's ready to play right now.
Sample Pages

Sample Audio
0:00
0:00
Sample Video
No sample videos found.
Additional Details
Series: Alfred Choral Designs
Publisher: Alfred Music
Page Count: 8
UPC: 038081211824
SKU: 00-21789

More about this title

About the Arranger: Jay Althouse

Jay Althouse

Jay Althouse studied music education and music at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where he later received the Distinguished Alumni award. His career spans both the publishing industry, where he worked for eight years as a rights and licenses administrator and served on the Executive Board of the Music Publishers Association of America, and prolific composition, with over 800 choral works now in print.

Althouse's arrangements and compositions are performed regularly across the English-speaking world. Beyond his choral catalog, he has co-written children's musicals with Sally K. Albrecht, compiled widely used vocal solo collections, and authored several classroom resources including The Complete Choral Warm-up Book and Accent on Composers. A writer member of ASCAP, he has received the ASCAP Special Award multiple times. He has served on boards for the North Carolina Master Chorale and currently advises the Folk Art Society of America.

Why we love this

Althouse transforms one of Chopin's most recognizable works into a piece that feels both intimate and ceremonial, honoring the original's harmonic language while making it accessible for mixed voices. The architecture of the piece, moving from hushed vulnerability through powerful climax and back to delicate resolution, gives your choir a complete emotional arc to shape in just eight pages.

What to expect

The piece inhabits a hushed, contemplative space before gradually drawing you into something luminous and full. There is vulnerability in the opening bars, then swelling gratitude in the "Dona nobis pacem," followed by a tender, almost ethereal return to quietness that leaves listeners in a state of peaceful reflection.

Who it's for

This arrangement serves choirs seeking substantial yet manageable repertoire for memorial services, peace-themed services, graduations, and moments calling for quiet dignity. The three-part voicing works well for developing choirs, adult community ensembles, and mixed groups with limited bass support.

How to get the most out of it

  • Shape the opening with genuine restraint; the "tender, soft singing" sets up the entire arc, so resist the urge to add volume too early.
  • Mark the "Dona nobis pacem" section clearly in rehearsal as your structural peak. This is where the full harmonic richness blooms, so ensure all three voices lock in balance before adding dynamic weight.
  • Work the final pianissimo carefully. The fade to silence mirrors the opening and requires the same control you built in measure one, only now with the full weight of what came before.

How to use it

Use this as a closing piece for a service or concert devoted to peace, reconciliation, or remembrance. It pairs well with other shorter choral works and gains power when programmed after something more active or dramatic. The piece also works as a moving finale to a spring choral concert or graduation ceremony.

Skills your students will build

  • Sustaining soft dynamics while maintaining ensemble blend and pitch stability
  • Phrasing across longer lines in a Romantic harmonic language
  • Balancing three independent vocal lines during harmonic climax
  • Controlling crescendo and decrescendo over multiple phrases
  • Singing in English with text-painting sensitivity

You May Also Like