When Words Are Not Enough Cover Image

When Words Are Not Enough: SoundTrax Digital Audio Download

$29.99 USD
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When Words Are Not Enough Cover Image

When Words Are Not Enough: SoundTrax Digital Audio Download

Words and music by Sally K. Albrecht and Jay Althouse

Item: 00-A-00015935

$29.99
Digital Download
Description

When Words Are Not Enough: SoundTrax Digital Audio Download isn't in MakeMusic Cloud just yet...but it could be. Let us know you'd like to see it, and you'll help shape what comes next. In the meantime, start a free trial and dive into thousands of interactive titles your students can play along with today.

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Additional Details
Series: Alfred Choral Designs
Publisher: Alfred Music
SKU: 00-A-00015935

More about this title

About the Composer: Sally K. Albrecht

Sally K. Albrecht

Sally K. Albrecht has shaped choral music education for decades as a composer, conductor, and clinician with a particular gift for integrating movement into choral performance. Since 1987, she has received the ASCAP Special Music Award annually and maintains an active catalog of over 600 choral publications alongside 75 larger works for stage and school. Her conducting experience spans honor choirs at major venues including Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and The Kennedy Center, and she spent more than thirty years directing choral, vocal, and elementary publications at leading educational music publishers, most recently at Alfred Music.

Albrecht earned her B.A. from Rollins College in Music and Theater, then continued her graduate studies at the University of Miami, where she completed an M.A. in Drama and an M.M. in Accompanying. She has taught at Oakland University, Jersey City State College, and Meredith College. In 2021, she received the Distinguished Alumna Award from both the University of Miami Frost School of Music and Rollins College, where she serves on the Board of Trustees. She and her husband, composer and arranger Jay Althouse, live in Wake Forest, North Carolina.

Why we love this

Albrecht and Althouse craft pieces that balance emotional authenticity with singability, and this title delivers both. The SoundTrax download format lets you hear the piece in full before rehearsals begin, giving your singers a clear musical vision from day one. Programming this for concert or contest means your ensemble performs work from two of choral music's most trusted and prolific voices.

What to expect

When Words Are Not Enough captures the power of nonverbal expression and unspoken emotion. The title itself signals a piece that trusts music to convey what language alone cannot, creating space for singers to invest lyrically and listeners to find their own meaning in the work.

Who it's for

This piece engages high school and adult choirs seeking repertoire that combines accessibility with emotional depth. Directors preparing for festival adjudication or a significant concert program will appreciate work from Albrecht, whose catalog is built on strong musicality and clear compositional intent.

How to get the most out of it

  • Listen to the SoundTrax recording multiple times before the first rehearsal to internalize the harmonic language and phrasing choices.
  • Use the digital audio to establish accurate pitch centers and balance among voice parts, especially in moments where Albrecht's characteristic lyricism asks for blend over solo projection.
  • Reference the recording during sectional rehearsals to help singers hear how their line sits within the full choral texture.

How to use it

Position this as a centerpiece or emotional anchor in a concert program, where its introspective quality benefits from being heard in context with contrasting tempos and moods. It also serves well in festival settings where judges appreciate compositionally mature choral writing with clear pedagogical value.

Skills your students will build

  • Interpreting expressive text-painting and emotional subtext in contemporary choral literature
  • Balancing individual voice line identity with ensemble blend and cohesion
  • Sustaining lyrical phrasing across longer musical phrases without losing rhythmic precision
  • Listening to recorded models and applying interpretive choices in rehearsal

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