Choral Choir (SSAA) - Level 4 - Digital Download
SKU: A0.856230
By Janis Joplin. By Bert Berns and Jerry Ragovoy. Arranged by Liz Garnett. Contemporary. Octavo. 5 pages. Liz Garnett #4802044. Published by Liz Garnett (A0.856230).
This song lives on the cusp of Second Wave Feminism. Its lyrics portray a woman fighting to maintain her pride in a neglectful, if not outright abusive, relationship, although it remains, at this stage, still essentially masochistic. She berates, but - in the lyrics at least - does not challenge. The iconic performances from the late 1960s (Erma Franklin, Janis Joplin, Dusty Springfield), though, tell a different story. Anger is erupting into the voices: the personal is poised to become overtly political.
The arrangement sets the narrative verses in a melody-and-accompaniment texture, with the harmony parts largely on vocables to let the story through, then builds up to a primarily homophonic texture with everyone participating in the lyrics for the declarative mode of the choruses. It is built to chart a wide dynamic range, charting the emotional range of the original.
N.B. This arrangement is notated in treble and bass alta (i.e. sung an octave higher than written) clefs.
Vocal Ranges: