Sunday: SSA Choral Octavo

Mac Huff's arrangement opens up Sondheim's deceptively intricate composition to a broader range of choirs. The SSA voicing preserves the intimacy of the material while the arranger's skillful hand ensures that the harmonic sophistication remains intact, making this a piece that rewards serious musical attention without becoming unreachable.

Sunday offers a moment of stillness and reflection, intimate yet never sentimental. The piece carries the quality of someone pausing mid-life to take stock, finding both acceptance and quiet melancholy in the ordinariness of a day.

This arrangement suits choirs with a solid foundation in part singing and comfort with moderately complex harmony. It works particularly well for groups seeking to program meaningful contemporary theater music that challenges musicianship without sacrificing artistry.

• Honor the lyrical quality by treating eighth notes as flowing rather than mechanical; the pulse should feel conversational, not metronomic.
• Balance the upper voices carefully in sections where they move independently. Sondheim's writing often layers vulnerability across all three parts simultaneously.
• Shape phrases around the text rather than bar lines. Where the lyric breathes is where the music should breathe.
• The accompaniment supports rather than drives; allow singers to shape the tempo slightly within a stable harmonic framework.

Program this as a centerpiece of a concert exploring contemporary musical theater or as part of a Sondheim retrospective that spans his range. Its seven pages make it substantial enough to command attention without overwhelming a mixed program, and it pairs well with other twentieth-century art song arrangements.

• Reading and sustaining independent vocal lines in a three-part texture
• Interpreting harmonic movement that shifts emotional weight between voice parts
• Maintaining lyrical integrity while navigating rhythmic and intervallic complexity
• Balancing ensemble blend with individual phrase characterization