Soon I Will Be Done (arr. Stacey V. Gibbs): SATB Choral Octavo

Gibbs brings architectural sophistication to this spiritual without turning it into something unrecognizable. The 11-page octavo gives your singers room to breathe, blend, and discover what makes the text matter, and his voicing respects both the tradition and the individual voices singing it. You'll program this knowing it lands with authenticity because it was written by someone who has spent decades listening to how spirituals actually live in choirs.

The arrangement unfolds with quiet certainty, never rushing toward resolution. There's both intimacy and spaciousness in the voicing; listeners hear individual voices while feeling the collective power. The harmonic language is contemporary but rooted, creating a sense that something old is being honored by being seen anew.

This arrangement serves choirs with solid blend and basic four-part balance, intermediate to advanced. It works equally well for church choirs seeking concert repertoire, college ensembles programming spirituals with fresh ears, and community choirs wanting to expand beyond standard voicings.

• Pay close attention to the harmonic shifts in the arrangement. Gibbs uses unexpected sonorities to deepen meaning; mark them in rehearsal so singers understand they're intentional, not errors.
• Let the a cappella texture expose any rhythmic unevenness. Spend time on syllable alignment across parts, especially during homophonic sections where blend is paramount.
• Trust the silence. Gibbs spaces this arrangement deliberately. Those moments between phrases aren't emptiness; they're breathing room that lets the text settle.
• Encourage singers to connect with the emotional arc rather than technical details. Once they understand the journey of the text, the vocal technique follows naturally.

This fits naturally into a concert pairing African American sacred music with contemporary arranging practices, or as a centerpiece in a concert exploring spirituals across genres and styles. It also stands alone as a powerful concert closer, giving audiences something they know refracted through a composer's mature vision.

• Sustaining long phrases with proper breath support
• Singing purely tuned inner parts without doubling
• Interpreting harmonic color and understanding how chord quality shapes meaning
• Ensemble balance when accompanied only by the voices around you
• Expressing spiritual text with sincerity rather than sentimentality