A SECOND LOOK at "Grace"(23 Jan 2002)I first reviewed this song in the group titled "On Your Way to Church..." Since then I have looked at it even more closely because of the many inquiries about it. I had selected this for my chorus to perform this year, and now after September 11, it is one of the best choices I've made. Here is a review that is slightly expanded from the original. Grace- arr. Mark HayesTTBB Beckenhorst Press PB1599 (1993/2000) $1.65 Positive: --familiar melody in two previous text uses: "The Water Is Wide" and "The Gift of Love" --the text in this arrangement is a variation on "Amazing Grace," hence the title, and the strong relationship to the events of September 11 --both the melody and text will have very strong audience appeal --for the older singer the appeal will come from both melody and text, while the younger singer will find the new, contemporary harmony very appealing --very interesting harmony which at times borders on blues or jazz without losing the real folk quality of the melodic line --it begins with unison, then to two part, then variations which make it interesting --this is one of those pieces which is well worth all the effort because it has so many uses: it would fit into almost any performance situation Minus: --this is an accompanist nightmare!! (Can you tell that Mark is a piano player?) --accompanists will need a page-turner, and perhaps one more hand --there are a couple of spots where the accompaniment does get in the way of the singer, otherwise the accompaniment is very supportive --the dissonance in the voice parts is not that difficult, or lengthy, but it will take extra time to learn Recommendation: Do consider this for your group this year, 2001-2002, and possibly for a Big Sing next year. I am also thinking of this song for the Common Repertoire. If you perform it, send me your opinion. Back to Music Reviews Back to Index of Titles Reviewed Music Talk with Don |
