The Best of Neil Diamond (arr. Ed Lojeski): SATB Choral Octavo

Ed Lojeski's arrangements respect the DNA of these songs while opening them up for four-part harmony. Familiar melodies appear in fresh harmonic contexts, and the 25-page collection gives you substantial programming flexibility without requiring your singers to learn unfamiliar material from scratch. These are songs audiences actually know and love, which means your choir's performance lands immediately.

Lojeski's voicings balance intimacy and energy. The arrangements honor Diamond's songs' emotional sincerity while giving each voice part something satisfying to sing; you'll hear warmth in the harmonies and forward momentum in the rhythmic language. There's comfort in familiarity here, but also discovery in how these arrangements reveal new colors in songs that might seem worn from radio play.

Choirs seeking contemporary popular repertoire with real musical substance and audience appeal. This collection works for groups at the intermediate-advanced level who want to program songs people recognize without resorting to arrangements that oversimplify the music.

• Anchor the rhythm section early in rehearsals. Diamond's songs sit in a pop-rock pocket that depends on confidence from your bass and percussion; once the rhythm is secure, the voices settle naturally into the groove.
• Shape phrases around the lyrics rather than the bar lines. These arrangements preserve conversational phrasing, so encourage singers to breathe where the words breathe, not always where notation might suggest.
• Let the soloists breathe. Many of these melodies benefit from a featured voice stepping forward for key moments; decide early which verses or passages highlight individual singers.
• Balance text clarity with musicality. Pop repertoire demands crisp diction, but sustaining that clarity at moderate tempos without sacrificing warmth in the vowels takes intentional rehearsal.

Weave these selections into concerts celebrating American popular songwriting, or use individual titles as accessible crowd-pleasers alongside art song and classical works. A single Diamond arrangement can provide tonal and stylistic contrast in a mixed program, or you can build an entire set around multiple selections if your audience skews toward pop repertoire.

• Balancing pop-inflected rhythms with clear harmonic voicing
• Sustaining conversational phrasing across four-part texture
• Applying appropriate stylistic interpretation to contemporary popular music
• Reading and performing SATB arrangements in popular idiom