You Are In Control: SATB Choral Octavo

The collaboration between Wood, Poythress, and Riddle creates a contemporary sacred work that sounds sophisticated without demanding virtuosic technique. Arrangers will appreciate how J. Daniel Smith distributes the melodic and harmonic interest across all four voices, ensuring no section gets left behind.

The piece carries the immediacy of contemporary songwriting paired with the depth of a composed choral work. Harmonically modern without alienating singers or listeners, it settles somewhere between hymnic accessibility and concert sophistication.

This octavo suits choirs with a season or two of SATB experience and singers who respond to modern musical language. It works equally well for concert performances, worship services, or festival programming where you want repertoire that feels current and spiritually grounded.

• Balance the upper voices carefully in exposed sections; the SA parts often carry thematic material that shouldn't get buried beneath the TC foundation.
• Lean into the contemporary harmonic language by letting chord resolutions breathe. Avoid over-shaping phrases in ways that flatten the modern compositional voice.
• Work the text with intention. Contemporary sacred music lives or dies on how singers connect with the lyrical message, so spend rehearsal time on diction clarity and emotional ownership.

Position this as a centerpiece for an all-sacred concert or as a standout opener for a mixed program. Its contemporary idiom creates natural contrast with classical or traditional hymn arrangements on the same concert.

• Reading and sustaining contemporary harmonic language
• Independent voice part singing in modern chord progressions
• Text expression and interpretation in non-traditional melodic shapes
• Blend and balance across SATB voices in close harmonic spacing