One day I was looking at the hymn “Love at Home”, and I started thinking how I would treat it musically. I thought it would be nice to emphasize the key words rhythmically, and to use embellishments for the words “love” and “home”. With that in mind, I started formulating some melodies and harmonies in my head.
When I do the voice-leading for choral music, I try to give each part (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass) interesting or fun parts to sing. Altos, in particular, sometimes get the short end of the stick as far as having interesting parts in many hymns and choral pieces, so I gave them (and the tenors, to a slightly lesser degree) the main “embellishments” in this song.
In typical hymn format, there are not many directives provided, but this song is well-suited for being sung with a lot of dynamics and rubato. Most phrases ending with melismas (multiple notes for one syllable) can usually be slowed slightly and in some cases, paused very slightly afterwards (examples: the end of the first three lines, the end of both phrases on the 4th line, and the end of each phrase in the chorus). This type of style lends itself well to barbershop music, so I intend to eventually arrange it for that, too.
The 8.5"x11" SATB sheet music is available for free download, below, or the 6.875"x10.5" choir sheet music booklet can be purchased through the "Add to Cart" button above to the right. If more than one copy is desired, change the quantity and click "Update" after clicking on the "Add to Cart' button. Please note, my cover page & artwork is not included the free PDF file in order to save ink. The shipping & handling fee covers all copies. For orders outside the US, please contact me for additional costs.
The audio recording (vocals by Matthew Curtis) used in the semi-animated sheet-music video above is available for purchase at www.choraltracks.com, along with excellent rehearsal tracks (predominant, left-panned, and muted). A small simple MIDI file that should play on most computers is included in the downloads area below.
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