The Arrow And The Song: TTBB Choral Octavo
The Arrow And The Song Sheet Music Preview

The Arrow And The Song: TTBB Choral Octavo

By Joseph M. Martin

Item: 35-DS00147492
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Additional Details
Publisher: Hal Leonard
Page Count: 10
SKU: 35-DS00147492

More about this title

About the Composer: Joseph M. Martin

Joseph M. Martin

Joseph M. Martin studied piano performance at Furman University and later earned his master's degree from the University of Texas at Austin, where he subsequently taught in the Piano Pedagogy Department for five years. His performance career has taken him across the United States and Mexico, including competition wins that led to appearances with major orchestras and broadcasts from significant venues. His work now balances concert performance with a deep commitment to church music and composer conferences, reflecting a career shaped by both classical training and sacred musical traditions.

Martin's compositions span an impressive range of contexts, from concert halls like Carnegie Hall to smaller worship spaces across North America. This breadth of experience informs his approach to choral writing, which consistently balances accessibility with musical substance. He continues to compose and arrange with an ear toward both the performer's needs and the listener's engagement.

Why we love this

Martin's treatment of Longfellow's poetry creates a choral setting that honors the text without overshadowing it, letting the words do their work while the music provides essential emotional scaffolding. The flexible voicing options (TB/TTB/TBB/TTBB) mean you can program this regardless of your section balance on any given season. Beyond pragmatism, the piece simply sits well for men's voices, with writing that feels natural rather than forced.

What to expect

The piece carries a meditative quality grounded in Longfellow's meditation on speech and consequence. Martin's setting finds warmth in the harmonic language while maintaining the contemplative tone the text demands, creating space for listeners to sit with the poem's meaning.

Who it's for

This octavo serves men's choirs of varying section strengths and can be adapted to your available voices without sacrificing the composer's intent. It works equally well for festival settings, concert programs, or chamber performances where a reflective secular work fits the programming.

How to get the most out of it

  • Shape the melodic line with attention to the text's imagery rather than relying on dynamic markings alone; Longfellow's language about arrows and songs carries the weight of the phrasing.
  • Balance the lower voices carefully in passages where they support harmonic movement; men's choirs often default to pushing the bass, but restraint here will clarify the overall sonority.
  • Consider the relationship between stanzas as shifts in emotional temperature rather than treating each section identically in tempo or energy.

How to use it

Position this as a contrast to more energetic works; its introspective character provides welcome variety in a concert pacing. The 10-page length makes it manageable for groups working with limited rehearsal time, and the flexibility in voicing means you can include it even when your roster shifts mid-season.

Skills your students will build

  • Shaping lyrical lines with text-driven phrasing
  • Balancing harmonic parts in close voicings
  • Reading flexible voicing arrangements and transposing parts as needed
  • Sustaining musical lines through longer phrase structures

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