What Love Can Do: SATB Choral Octavo

This piece captures something directors search for in contemporary choral writing: a message that resonates with singers without feeling preachy, coupled with genuinely satisfying musical moments (that bridge alone justifies programming it). Burrows builds the arrangement with architectural care, starting spare and small before the full ensemble delivers the anthem's payoff, which gives your singers a clear arc to shape and audiences a moment they'll remember.

What Love Can Do moves from intimate vulnerability to collective strength. The opening floats gently before pop-inflected rhythms bring the energy forward, and by the bridge you feel the shift from personal conviction to communal action, ending in full voice and genuine celebration.

Choirs looking for contemporary music with genuine substance and purpose will find this piece both singable and meaningful. It works for high school, college, and adult groups that want to program a message-driven anthem without sacrificing musical craft or performance satisfaction.

• Honor the opening mezzo-soprano solo as the emotional seed of the piece. This moment sets the song's intimate tone, so resist the urge to support it with too much harmonic filler. Let it breathe and establish the lyrical identity before the texture expands.
• The handclap sections need precision, not volume. Rhythmic clarity matters more than force; think of them as a textural layer that locks the groove rather than a percussive explosion.
• Approach the a cappella moment as a test of ensemble blend and independence. This is where exposed voicing reveals the true strength of your harmonic balancing work throughout rehearsal.
• Build the final fortissimo through dynamic control in the preceding phrases, not by asking singers to suddenly shift into overdrive. Gradual intensity creates the 'bloom' effect Burrows intends.

Program this as a closer on a concert exploring justice, hope, or community impact. Its accessibility means it pairs well with heavier classical fare on the same program, and the message resonates particularly well in spring concerts or events focused on youth voice and social awareness. The recorded accompaniment availability makes it a natural fit for festivals and adjudicated competitions.

• Singing exposed a cappella passages with secure intonation
• Layering pop-influenced rhythms with choral discipline
• Sustaining a clear narrative arc across dynamic changes
• Balancing mezzo-soprano solo texture against ensemble support
• Coordinating rhythmic precision in rhythmic unison sections (handclaps)