John Leavitt has built a distinguished career arranging and composing music for choral ensembles across all levels. His work is marked by clear voicing, singable lines, and deep understanding of what makes arrangements both musically satisfying and pedagogically sound. Leavitt's arrangements appear regularly on festival and concert programs, earning respect from directors who value both artistic integrity and practical rehearsal efficiency.
Why we love this
Leavitt's approach to madrigal arrangement respects the historical form while making it accessible to contemporary ensembles. The 49 pages suggest substantial material that gives singers real depth to explore, and his voice leading keeps every part engaged without creating unnecessary technical barriers.
What to expect
These arrangements capture the intimate, conversational quality of madrigal singing. Voices weave together with text painting and harmonic surprise, creating moments of unexpected color and emotional nuance that feel conversational and alive rather than ceremonial.
Who it's for
Intermediate to advanced SATB choirs ready to engage with polyphonic literature. This collection serves ensembles comfortable with part independence and directors seeking to build singers' facility with madrigal style without requiring extensive historical context.
How to get the most out of it
Shape phrases with the text's natural rhetoric rather than squeezing music into uniform 4-bar units. Madrigals thrive on expressive flexibility.
Balance the SATB texture by letting inner voices anchor the harmony while sopranos and altos carry the melodic foreground. Don't let tenors and basses disappear into accompaniment.
Attend to consonant and vowel sounds across the choir. Madrigals reward clarity of diction, especially when multiple voice parts carry different text simultaneously.
Practice sections separately before combining voices. The polyphonic writing benefits from each part knowing its melodic independence before blending occurs.
How to use it
Build a thematic concert around madrigal traditions, pairing selections from this collection with original madrigals from the Renaissance to create dialogue across centuries. The substantial page count allows you to program multiple pieces from the collection in a single rehearsal season without needing supplementary material.
Skills your students will build
Reading polyphonic lines with independent melodic shape
Balancing part independence with unified ensemble sound
Responding to text painting and harmonic color
Sustaining consistent intonation across overlapping phrases
Understanding madrigal form and its historical conventions
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