The Real Thing: SATB Choral Octavo

Paris Rutherford's arrangement opens up Wonder's songwriting to four-part choral textures without sacrificing what makes the melody unforgettable. The voicing sits comfortably for mixed voices while maintaining enough sophistication to keep singers engaged, making this a smart choice for programs that want contemporary relevance without oversimplification.

Warm, accessible, and rhythmically sophisticated. The song carries an inherent optimism that arrangement honors while adding harmonic depth and textural interest beneath the familiar melody.

Directors building contemporary repertoire for mixed choirs who want genuine musicianship, not nostalgia. Singers who need exposure to jazz and Latin phrasing conventions embedded in a pop song context.

• Treat the rhythmic groove with precision. These syncopated figures need locked ensemble work, so isolate the trickier passages in sectionals before putting voices together.
• Let the Latin and jazz influences shape your phrasing. Straight rhythms will drain the style; find the swing and swing-feel that makes the arrangement breathe.
• Balance the harmony carefully in the middle voices. The arrangement likely includes richer voicings that can obscure the melody if sopranos and altos aren't proportionally balanced.

Program this alongside art song and classical work to demonstrate how excellent songwriting transcends genre boundaries. The 15-page length makes it substantial enough to anchor a program segment dedicated to 20th-century popular song.

• Singing jazz and Latin rhythmic inflection in a choral setting
• Reading and executing syncopated ensemble figures
• Balancing melody and harmony in contemporary voicings
• Phrasing across a pop song structure
• Part independence with rhythmic precision