Adam Lay Ybounden – flexible 2-part choir

This a cappella setting in 2 parts can work for upper voices S/A, lower voices T/B, or a mixed group (S/B, ST/B, S/AB, or SA/TB). The parts interweave and play off each other, making it an impressive showpiece despite its short length (just under 2 minutes). An ideal opener for a service of 9 Lessons & Carols.

Click here to download a sample score. Sample recording coming soon (once my voice recovers from Christmas!) See page 1 below.

The ranges are fairly broad – lower part goes from low A to high Eb, upper part goes from low Bb to high Gb. Transposed versions available on request if needed.

To order copies, email me. Current pricing is pay-what-you-want – free if you’re willing to do a demo recording of it before June 2024.

page 1 of score

Everything I’ve written for 2-part choirs

Lately I’ve been doing a lot of pieces for flexible 2-part choirs; all of these can be performed by any choir that can sing 2-part harmony. Here’s a complete list!

SA choirs can sing all of these as written (except When I’m 64). TB choirs can sing them all an octave lower than written (except Patapan and When I’m 64).

For mixed choirs, the majority can be performed with sopranos and tenors on the top part (an octave apart) and altos and basses on the lower part, or you can have SA on top and TB on bottom an octave down. Most of them can be performed in whichever of those configurations works best for your choir. For the a cappella pieces, if you have tenor or bass voices in your choir, at least some of them should be on the bottom part down the octave, and if you have soprano or alto voices, at least some of them should be on the top part.

2 part a cappella – original works

Adam Lay Ybounden – 2 parts a cappella, quite broad ranges (lower part A-Eb, higher part Bb-Gb). Recommended for TB or SA choirs, also works well for ST/AB or any mixed group.

Tell Them Of Us – 2 parts a cappella, a setting of a First World War epitaph. Ideal for Remembrance, Veteran’s Day, or similar occasions.

Patapan (MusicSpoke, $2/copy) – for SA choir (brief divisi to SSA, two optional SSAA chords), moderate difficulty, 3′. Text in English. Recording now available on SoundCloud! Might work for TB choirs but probably better for SA.

The Wall – part of #ChoirsAgainstRacism, available under a Creative Commons license to raise funds or awareness for refugees and migrants. This is quite a dark piece and might not be suitable for younger choirs. Works well for SA, TB, or any mixed group.

2 part with accompaniment – original works

Child In The Manger (available from MusicSpoke, $2/copy) – for SA and piano (or harp), would probably work with lower parts added. A fairly easy melody influenced by Scots folk songs. Verse 1 is unison, verse 2 gives the altos a countermelody, and in verse 3 the altos take the tune and the sopranos sing a descant. Listen on SoundCloud.

Why We Sing – 2-part choir and piano, part of #ChoirsForClimate, available under Creative Commons (download for free if you’re using it for campaigning or fundraising for ecological causes. Could also be performed unison with all on the top line.

The Rules – 2-part choir and piano (optional 4 part section at the start but this can be done with only 2, or omitted altogether), part of #ChoirsForClimate, available under Creative Commons (download for free if you’re using it for campaigning or fundraising for ecological causes.

We Are One Voice (available from MusicSpoke, $2/copy) – for 2-part choir and piano (also available as unison, SATB, or in various 3-part arrangements)

I Was Listening To A Pogrom – part of #ChoirsAgainstRacism., a setting of Michael Rosen’s poem, this is quite dark and warns of the dangers of fascism. Has a sung part and a spoken part. Fairly tricky for the pianist, maybe grade 5-6. Sung part is not very tricky, could easily be learnt by ear, goes from low B to high E, can be sung in a low or high octave. Spoken part requires some knowledge of rhythm but could be learnt by ear.

2 part a cappella – arrangements

Loch Lomond for 2-part choir – first verse with easy harmony; second verse can be sung to the same harmony or to a slightly more challenging version. Easy, 2 minutes. Single copies 50, PDF £10.
A Red Red Rose for 2-part choir. Easy, 2 minutes. Single copies 50p, PDF £10.
Ye Banks and Braes for 2-part choir. Easy, 2 minutes. Single copies 50p, PDF £10.
(If you order more than one of the three above arrangements as a PDF I’m happy to offer a discount – two for £15 or all three for £20 – email me to order any or all of those)

Silent Night (SheetMusicDirect) – an arrangement for mixed choir, with sopranos and altos singing the melody (range alto Bb to soprano Eb) and tenors and basses singing a low countermelody (range baritone Bb to Bb below middle C, written in bass cleft).

We Shall Not Give Up The Fight – a flexible arrangement of an African traditional song. Quite a few syncopations but should be easy for most choirs.

When I’m Sixty-Four (SheetMusicDirect) – an arrangement of the Beatles classic. Works best with SA on top and TB on bottom (the lower part is written in bass clef). Published under Hal Leonard’s ArrangeMe scheme, so all copyright is covered.

Tell Them Of Us – for Remembrance (pay what you want)

“When you go home, tell them of us and say
For your tomorrow we gave our today.”

Motto of the Burma Star Association, also known as the Kohima Epitaph

This piece for 2-part choir is suitable for upper-voice groups (sopranos on part 1, altos on part 2), lower-voice groups (tenors on part and basses on part 2, both singing an octave lower than written) or mixed choirs (choose between SA on part 1 and TB on part 2, or ST doubling part 1 in octaves and AB doubling part 2 in octaves, depending on what works best with your choir balance).

It should suit any choir who are capable of singing 2 independent parts – it’s entirely diatonic and the rhythms are easy.

Ranges:
part 1 – D4 to D5 (or D3 to D4 down the octave)
part 2 – A3 to B4 (or A2 to B3 down the octave)

The score is available on a pay-what-you-want basis – click here to download a sample PDF.

Email me to order a copy with your choir’s name on it. Payment accepted via Paypal for preference (suggested £10/$15 for a large choir, £5/$7.50 for small choirs or duets). I’ll send you a PDF, you can print as many copies as you want. If you’re on a tight budget and doing a non-profit performance I’ll send you the score for free.

Music: Chris Hutchings (b.1979)
Words: John Maxwell Edmonds (1875-1958), written 1918, slightly altered by his publishers
© Chris Hutchings 2023

The demo below is my voice, apologies for the singing quality! I’ll try to get some better singers together to record it at some point.

Christmas round-up 2022

I know that planning Christmas concerts during a pandemic is a chancy business! But if you’re looking for a seasonal piece for your choir, I’ve probably got something that will suit you.Any works without a recording (marked *) could be available free if you are willing to record them. Suggested price for any pieces that aren’t currently on sale through MusicSpoke or SheetMusicDirect is $2 (or £1.50) per copy for a print license, but if you run a voluntary choir and have a limited (or zero) budget, email me and we can work something out.

If you enjoy watching scrolling scores, here’s a set of 12 scrolling score videos of my best Christmas pieces!

All of those, plus a few more, are in the list below. Click on each title for more information. These are in approximate order of difficulty.

Welcome Carol: unison+piano, easy, ideal for a children’s choir and easy enough for a congregation to learn in a few minutes. Part of #ChoirsAgainstRacism. Free under a Creative Commons license.

Child In The Manger: SA+piano, suitable for all but the youngest upper voice choirs. Available from MusicSpoke.

Hush My Dear: for SATB choir a cappella, this was sung by 18 different choirs at Christmas 2019 before the Covid epidemic hit! A simple, effective Christmas lullaby. Available from MusicSpoke.

In The Bleak Midwinter: my own setting, for SATB choir a cappella, in 3/4 rather than the ploddy 4/4 of the Darke or Holst settings. Also available for SMezABar if you have a lot of upper voices. Available on SheetMusicDirect.

Good King Wenceslas: for SABar choir a cappella. Listen on SoundCloud (the choir on the recording included a piano for support but it can be performed without): available on SheetMusicDirect.

*Come Christmas: for unison choir with accompaniment, words by R.G. Huff. The accompaniment part is in three lines; this can be played on organ or piano, or by any three instruments you have available, preferably from the same family, e.g. violin/viola/cello or flute/clarinet/bassoon. Transposed individual parts available on request. Email for copies.

White Christmas: an SABar or SAT a cappella arrangement of Irving Berlin’s classic. Available from SheetMusicDirect.

*I Want An Octopus For Christmas: voice and piano, with my own words plus some help from friends and family, inspired by my young daughter’s Christmas request, and in the style of classic 50s songs. Currently only available as a lead sheet but piano arrangement hopefully coming soon. Email for copies.

*Silent Night: a 2-part arrangement, with sopranos and altos singing the melody on top while baritones sing a responsive countermelody underneath: available from SheetMusicDirect.

Balulalow: for SATB choir with divisi, and soprano and baritone soloists. Available from MusicSpoke.

A New Year Carol: SATB. Available from MusicSpoke.

Patapan: SSA (brief optional SSAA splits). Available from MusicSpoke.

Be Still, My Blessed Babe: mezzo solo (range A3-A4) and piano. Email for copies.

We Three Kings (arrangement): SATB. Available on SheetMusicDirect.

*Ring Out, Ye Bells: for SATB choir and organ. Email for copies.

*I Sing Of A Maiden: SATB choir a cappella (divisi to SSAATTBB). Email for copies.

Adeste Fideles: SSAATBB choir and organ. A 2016 commission from Wimbledon Choral Society. Available from MusicSpoke.

O Clavis David: for SSAATTBB choir a cappella. Available from MusicSpoke.

*Videntes Stellam: for SMezATBarB choir a cappella. Email for copies.

When The Snow Came: for SSAATTBB choir and speaking chorus (ideally about half the size of the main choir). Winner of Kantos Choir’s 2021 competition. Email for copies.

Rorate Coeli De Super: for double SATB choir and organ. Email for copies.

What I’ve written for children’s choirs and youth choirs

Anyone who directs a children’s choir or youth choir will know the struggle of finding suitable pieces to sing. You want something that doesn’t use extreme ranges, which can be learned by ear for non-readers, but gives the more experienced singers in your choir something to get their teeth into, with appropriate lyrics for a younger group but that doesn’t patronise the older members and isn’t twee… it’s tough! I’ve tried to write pieces which I think I would have enjoyed as a young singer, and which I can see myself directing with choirs ranging from 7-year-old beginners to cynical 17-year-olds. I hope some of them will work for you. All of the links below include full scores of each piece, not just a few sample pages.

If you’ve only got time to look at a couple, my personal favourites at the moment are “Why We Sing” and “All My Friends Live In My Pocket”.

Easiest pieces are at the top, harder ones at the bottom.

Welcome Carol – for piano and unison choir. Range is C4 to C5 (transposed versions available on request). Ideal for groups with a social justice focus or who include refugees. It’s a Christmas carol so it includes references to Jesus, but it isn’t ‘preachy’ at all and could be sung for a multicultural audience. Free under a Creative Commons license. Donations to anti-racism causes appreciated.

Under The Wide And Starry Sky – for piano and unison choir. Range includes only 4 notes (D4, E4, G4, A4) as this was written to be used in Kodaly-based work, and has been sung by several groups from the National Youth Choir of Scotland. A bit more solemn and thoughtful than the average children’s choir piece, this would suit a memorial service, Remembrance Day, etc. Transposed versions on request. $2/copy from MusicSpoke.

It’s Raining – for piano and unison choir. Range includes only 5 notes (D4, E4, G4, A4, B4), again written for Kodaly-based work. This is a rather more playful piece, ideal for introducing your choir to extended melismas! The first three verses are about how depressed adults get by rain, with crunchy chromatic harmonies from the piano, before breaking out into a gleeful celebration of puddles. $2/copy from MusicSpoke.

The Camel Round – works in up to 5 parts, range C4-D5, uses Mixolydian mode. Free for educational purposes. “A Bactrian camel has two humps, a Dromedary has just one, but if you bought a camel with no humps, that’s a llama, and now your money’s gone.” The words follow the shape of each animal’s back and neck, with helpful illustrations!

My Wish – for guitar and unison choir, range A3-B4 (but could be transposed up easily with a capo). With words by 4-year-old poet Nadim S., this was written in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic for an online performance “On Hope”. You can see the online premiere from Lom Smith here. Free if you can record it.

There Is A Green Hill Far Away – for 2-part upper voices a cappella, a new setting of these well-known words. Lower part Bb3-C5, upper part C4-F5. Free if you can record it.

A Bicycle Wheel – another round! This one uses a maximum of 3 parts, and has rather more different harmonies in it than the average round does. Range is A3-D5. Price: pay-what-you-want! Free if you can record it.

Why We Sing – for 2-part choir and piano, about why we think singing can change the world. Upper part range C4-E5, lower part A3-D5. The third verse can be rewritten to suit whatever cause you are singing about. Free under Creative Commons. “Just one voice can start the singing, Stories grow with every word, No-one is too small to matter: Raise your voice, you will be heard.”

All My Friends Live In My Pocket – for piano and unison voices (with optional 2-part harmonies). Range Bb3-Eb5, with lower harmonies briefly going to G3 and upper harmonies occasionally going to F5. It’s about phones, social media, connections, and having friends all around the world. Watch the video from the premiere here, and I’ve also made a scrolling score video. Now available from MusicSpoke.

We Are One Voice – for piano and unison, 2-part or 3-part choir. Written for a choral festival, the request was for something that all choirs at the festival could perform together, or sing separately in their own concerts – so there are versions of this for unison choir (range A3-E5), 2-part choir (which can be SA, TB, or mixed – lower part A3-E5, upper part B3-F#5) and 3-part choir (SSA, SABar or TBarB) and SATB, with an optional middle section for the 3- and 4-part groups, all of which have the same accompaniment parts and can be sung at the same time. If you run more than one choir and want a piece where they can join together, this would be ideal. The words are by Euan Tait, who’s also written for Kim Andre Arnesen, Paul Spicer and Carson Cooman. $2/copy from MusicSpoke.

The Water Cycle – for piano and SA choir, occasional divisi to SSAA. Alto range A3-D5, sopranos Bb3-G5. Click here to see the full score. A song about nature, but also educational! With lyrics by Julia Laylander, this tells the story of the water cycle through rain, rivers, glaciers, snowmelt, and oceans. The choir subdivides into several small groups, each led by an instrumentalist. Percussion needed: 1 metallophone (or vibraphone with motors off) or glockenspiel; 2 xylophones or marimbas; several rainsticks. The mallet percussion parts should be playable by older schoolchildren with some music reading ability. Rainsticks can be played by a group of choir members in addition to singing. $2-$3 per copy from SheetMusicPlus.

Also see my compositions for upper voices, some of which have been performed by youth choirs (Farnham Youth Choir have sung “Thou Knowest Lord” and NYCoS have sung “God To Enfold Me”, among many others), and a massive spreadsheet of all my choral works and arrangements.

If you like the music but nothing here is quite what you want, email me and let’s talk about what I could write for your choir! I’m always happy to discuss new commissions.

Anna, Surprised – a new piece for Candlemas

Premiered 2nd Feb 2020, St Andrew’s Church, Denver, conducted by Tim Kreuger – listen below!

This piece was inspired by Euan Tait‘s wonderful new poem about Anna and Simeon at Candlemas, below:

Anna consumed by song,
prophet who had not seen
how wing-sweep and strange
the holy is, the Divine
a baby given, presented
like any little child; Anna,
sharpened by laughter
and rough-edge awareness,
surprised, swept up
in Simeon’s reckless ecstasy,
that this Child was the end,
the final wisp of the smoke
of all his prayers, the light
to lighten the human heart
and God’s final yes to his life,
yes, you may now depart, run
to your wild-water Amen.

(Euan has also written libretti for composers including Kim Andre Arnesen, Timothy Tharaldson, Paul Spicer, and many more.)

Download a sample copy of the choral score

Download a sample with piano reduction added

Hear a demo recording (made with MIDI)

Difficulty: the piece is for SATB choir a cappella (although I’m happy for it to be performed with a light doubling on piano or organ if needed), with some easy 2-part divisi plus a short soprano solo (minimum numbers 3-2-2-2 to get all the notes, would probably work fine 2 to a part if you omit the soprano 1’s D in bar 11; I imagine it with 4-10 per part). It contains several chords with added notes, but very few strong or sustained dissonances or tricky jumps, and could be learned by ear if needed; any music-reading choir should have no problem with the notes.

Price: £2 per printed copy, or £25 for a PDF if you would like to print your own copies.

Choral ranges:
soprano – middle C to high G
alto – G below middle C to C above middle C
tenor – E below middle C to F above middle C (quite a few sustained high Es)
bass – first, low A to middle C; seconds, low G to middle C

“We Are One Voice” – a very flexible choir piece

“We Are One Voice” was commissioned by Beaconsfield Festival of Choirs for their 2018 festival, as a piece that could be sung by all the choirs who were in the festival, both individually, and together at the end of each concert. There is also a more challenging section in the middle, which can be sung by advanced choirs, or omitted if desired (it requires 3 or 4 parts).

“In the end it was very successful – we had 5 choirs in each of the three remaining concerts, and they performed well – huge variety of styles and standards, which is typical of the festival, but everyone is very attentive and gains a lot from singing to each other.  The first concert was the most successful in terms of your song – most of the choirs had learnt the middle section, so we could perform it in its entirety.  The other two concerts we only did the outer sections.  I rehearsed it with them all together (in front of the audience) first, to check over the difficult bits, and then we did a performance.  Lots of people said that they’d really enjoyed singing it together, and at the end the church was really ringing with the sound.” – Jane Smith, director, Beaconsfield Festival of Choirs

The words were commissioned from Euan Tait, who has also written words for pieces by Kim Andre Arnesen, Timothy Tharaldson, Paul Spicer and Janet Wheeler, among other composers.

Now available from MusicSpoke! Click here to order a copy for your choir.

The piece is available for the following choir voicings (all accompanied by piano):

unison (with short optional call-and-response divisi)

2-part flexible: can be S/A, T/B, ST/B, S/AB, etc., no divisi needed beyond 2 parts(this version will soon be published in the Hong Kong Children’s Chorus 50th Anniversary Songbook)

3-part: mixed SABar choir, upper voices SSA or lower voices TBarB (email me if you would like an STB or ATB version), all no divisi

4-part: SATB choir, no divisi

All of these can be performed simultaneously; email me if you’d like a conductor’s score with multiple parts. Several different choirs can be heard singing the piece together below:

Hear the piano part alone below:

Full libretto:

I have a voice,
I have a song,
I have a cry,
and you shall hear me!

I am a heartbeat,
I am a life,
I am a yes,
and you shall sing me!

I am a drum,
I am a rhythm,
I am a choir,
and we shall dance you!

I am the broken tree:
heal me.
We the injured bird,
call me,
we the bird-call forest
you have planted.

We the heartbeats of our song,
we the streets that pulse the city.

My life is a drum,
and I am the drumbeat,
my song is my life,
and we are one voice!

Euan Tait

The Birlinn

“The Birlinn” is an epic Gaelic poem about a sea voyage. It’s been translated into English by Edinburgh poet Donald Campbell, and we’ve worked together to set it to music: the first three movements (in their versions for SATB and piano) were premiered on 12th November 2017 by Edinburgh Napier Chamber Choir, conducted by Michael Harris and with Peter Backhouse on piano.

“Incitement to Sailing” was selected for London City Chorus’ concert on 6th July 2018, one of 3 works chosen from over 100 submissions (“They” by Alison Willis, with my words, was also selected!) See concert details here.

You can listen to two of the movements below:

Perusal scores for the SATB versions:
Blessing on the Ship – SATB and piano
On The Savage Sea – SATB or SABar
Incitement to Sailing – SATB and piano

Perusal scores for the TBarB versions:
Blessing on the Ship – TBarB and piano
On The Savage Sea – TBarB
Incitement to Sailing – TBarB and piano

I’m also working on arranging these for 2-part and SABar choirs – contact me if you’re interested in performing the piece in any of those versions.

For SATB choirs, please order copies from MusicSpoke.

For TBarB or other choirs: for all three movements together, the price is £3 + postage for a printed copy, or £40 flat rate for a PDF to print as many copies as you need for your choir.

Individual movements: Blessing on the Ship £20 (£1.50/copy), On The Savage Sea £10 (50p/copy), Incitement to Sailing £25 (£2/copy).

I would also be very happy to hear from any choir wishing to commission further movements for performance: there are many more sections of The Birlinn that I am keen to set to music, especially if a choir wants to sing them.

A Bicycle Wheel – pay what you want for a very silly 3-part round

Here is a very silly 3-part round about bicycles. You can pay whatever you want for it – just email me (chris@hutchingsmusic.co.uk) and say how much you’d like to pay for it, and your choir’s name. I’ll send you the score. I can send you an invoice if you need one for tax purposes. You can pay as little as £1, or as much as $100 if you’re feeling generous! Payment by Paypal preferred.

If your choir genuinely has zero budget (no payments for performing, no ticket sales, etc.) I’ll still happily send you a copy, just email me the choir’s name.

It’s not quite a typical round – most rounds for choir singing have a repeated structure of 2 or 4 chords, but this one has a circular chord structure (which is why it doesn’t work in more than 3 parts). The underlying chords go D – F#m – A – C#dim – Em – G – Bm – D, moving up by a third each time – so if you have a class who are working on music theory, they might find this quite interesting.

Preview the score as a PDF

Hear a MIDI demo

You can see the score as a picture below (click on it for a full-size version):

The Kindness of Strangers

Brian Bilston, the unofficial poet laureate of Twitter, has very kindly allowed me to set his poem “The Kindness of Strangers” to music. It’s written in memory of the bombings in London and Manchester (and set to music also with the tragedy at Grenfell in mind). It’s about 3 minutes long, for SATB (maximum divisi to SSAATBB, ideal if you’re a bit short on tenors), easy to medium difficulty.

If you’d like to perform the piece, please order copies from MusicSpoke.

It was premiered by the University of Glasgow Chapel Choir on 21st November 2017 – hear it below:

Download a sample choral score (PDF)
Hear it on SoundCloud
Download a sample score with piano reduction