The Longest Time (arr. Craig McLeish): SSATB Choral Octavo

Craig McLeish's arrangement captures the warmth and conversational intimacy of the original while giving it new life through SSATB voicing. The piece sits comfortably in the upper voices without losing the song's emotional directness, making it an ideal selection for choirs looking to program recognizable material that still demands musicianship.

Nostalgic yet grounded, the arrangement preserves the song's reflective quality while the multi-part voicing adds richness to the familiar melody. There's an unhurried elegance here, a sense of looking back with both humor and genuine affection for a moment that mattered.

This arrangement works well for upper-level high school and college choirs seeking a pop selection with genuine musical substance. It also suits community and showcase choirs that want to connect with audiences through a song they know and love.

• Balance the melody in the soprano line so the nostalgic quality of the original shines through, but avoid letting it overshadow the harmonic support underneath.
• Pay attention to the text phrasing as you would in a jazz standard; the conversational tone of the lyrics should guide your approach to punctuation and breathing.
• Shape the dynamics to follow the emotional arc rather than adhering rigidly to written markings, letting the storytelling of the song lead your interpretation.

Pair this with other pop standards or use it as a bridge between classical repertoire and contemporary material on a mixed concert. It also serves as an accessible entry point for choirs exploring arranged popular music without sacrificing musicianship.

• Singing pop-influenced melodies with legit tone production
• Balancing melody and harmony in close voicings
• Interpreting text with conversational phrasing rather than classical diction
• Maintaining intonation in upper register parts across longer phrases