They Can't Take That Away from Me: SATB Choral Octavo

Kirby Shaw's arrangement respects every inch of Gershwin's melodic and harmonic invention while making the piece singable for a high school or community choir. The moderate difficulty level means your singers can focus on musical expression rather than wrestling with voicing complications. This is the kind of standard that audiences request by name and your ensemble will love performing.

Romantic without sentimentality, confident without arrogance. The melody flows with the natural ease of great songwriting, supported by harmonies that are colorful and slightly unexpected. There's a lift to it that makes singers feel like they're performing something both timeless and genuinely fun.

High school and community choirs looking for a well-loved standard that sits comfortably at moderate difficulty. Singers at this level appreciate Gershwin's tunefulness and benefit from the challenge of shaping American popular song with choral sensitivity.

• Balance the melody across the ensemble rather than isolating it in one voice part. The arrangement is written to distribute Gershwin's signature phrases, so encourage singers to find where their part carries the tune and sing it with ownership.
• Shape the phrases with the harmonic movement. Gershwin's harmony often shifts subtly; listeners will hear sophistication if your choir listens to those changes and responds with dynamic and textural clarity.
• Use the recorded accompaniment to lock tempo and harmonic support, especially during the bridge where rhythmic security matters most for ensemble unity.

Program this as a concert centerpiece or as part of a Gershwin-themed set with other standards from the era. It works equally well on a spring pops concert or alongside more traditional repertoire as a reminder that American songwriting is its own legitimate art form.

• Shaping sustained melodic lines with harmonic awareness
• Balancing popular song style with choral clarity
• Responding to rhythmic and harmonic movement within a moderate SATB voicing
• Interpreting American jazz-inflected harmony