# Old Hundredth: SATB voice parts

## Title and instrumentation

**Old Hundredth.** Tune from the Genevan Psalter (1551), in the four-part setting you supplied.
For SATB choir: Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass, one part for each voice.

| Part | Clef | Range in your source |
|---|---|---|
| Soprano | treble | D4 to D5 |
| Alto | treble | B3 to G4 |
| Tenor | treble clef with a small 8 below (sounds an octave lower), as in your source | F#3 to D4 (sounding) |
| Bass | bass | F#2 to G3 |

## Duration and form

8 bars of 4/4 in G major. Every note is a crotchet, so a verse is 32 beats long.
At about 90 beats per minute that is roughly 21 seconds a verse. The MIDI file plays it in
16 seconds, at 120 beats per minute.

There are four two-bar phrases, each of eight crotchets (bars 1–2, 3–4, 5–6 and 7–8). The
setting ends with a final double bar in bar 8. There are no repeats or alternative endings.

## Difficulty and playability notes

These are easy parts: one note per beat throughout, mostly stepwise, in comfortable ranges for
every voice. They passed a check of standard SATB vocal ranges with nothing out of range.

The widest leaps in each part:
- **Soprano:** a fifth, G4 up to D5 (bar 6, beat 4 to bar 7, beat 1), at the start of the last phrase.
- **Alto:** fourths only (for example D4 up to G4 across bars 6–7).
- **Tenor:** repeated fifths between G3 and D4 (bars 2–5).
- **Bass:** two octave leaps, G2 to G3 (bar 2 into bar 3, and bar 7, beats 1–2), and a sixth,
  G2 up to E3, in bar 1.

There are no rests in any part. Singers have to take breath between phrases by shortening the
last crotchet of a phrase (end of bars 2, 4 and 6). Nothing is marked for this; the guide only
points it out.

Each part fits on one line of a single A4 page, so there are no page turns.

## Performance notes

Your source has no tempo marking, dynamics, articulations, slurs, fermatas, breath marks,
lyrics or rehearsal marks. The parts keep that: nothing of that kind was added. The brief asked
me to keep dynamics, articulations and rehearsal marks. There were none to keep, and I invented
none.

Tempo: I chose to leave the parts without a tempo marking, so they stay identical to your source.
A MIDI file has to carry some tempo, so the MIDI uses the standard default of 120 crotchets per
minute. Set whatever tempo you like in your DAW. This is a neutral placeholder, not a suggested
singing tempo.

## What was done and what was not

Task: a clean edition of existing music: Old Hundredth (Genevan Psalter, 1551), in your four-part setting.

Done:
- Read your MusicXML file in full, with no loss. All pitches, spellings (for example F#, not
  G-flat), rhythms, the key signature, time signature, clefs and the final barline were kept.
- Printed one part per voice. A comparison with your file found no difference at any of the
  32 beats. Each part's MusicXML also matches its voice in your file note for note, in pitch,
  octave and rhythm.
- Exported an editable MusicXML of the full four-voice setting, plus one MusicXML file per voice.
- Exported a MIDI file with one named track per voice for your DAW.
- Looked at every printed page and checked pitches, clefs and stem directions close up.

Not done, and why:
- No notes, rhythms, marks, text or tempo were added, changed or removed. This was part
  preparation only, not an arrangement.
- No full-score PDF was made because the brief asked only for the parts. The full-score
  MusicXML opens in any notation program if you want a printed score.
- This commission delivers no recording, only note data in the MIDI file.

What the MIDI file cannot hold:
- MIDI stores pitch numbers, not note names. Sharps and flats as written, the key signature, clefs,
  barline style and the composer credit are not in it. Its time signature is 4/4.
- Every note has the same loudness, because the source has no dynamics.
- The Soprano, Alto and Tenor tracks are set to the General MIDI "Choir Aahs" sound. The Bass
  track has no sound set, so some General MIDI players will play it on piano until you choose
  a sound for it in your DAW.

The printed parts lose nothing musical. Only an internal voice label, which is never printed,
is not carried into the PDF.

## Files in this folder

- `parts/Soprano.pdf`, `parts/Alto.pdf`, `parts/Tenor.pdf`, `parts/Bass.pdf`: printed part
  for each voice, one A4 page each.
- `parts/Soprano.musicxml`, `parts/Alto.musicxml`, `parts/Tenor.musicxml`, `parts/Bass.musicxml`:
  editable MusicXML for each voice on its own.
- `score.musicxml`: editable MusicXML of the complete four-voice setting.
- `score.mid`: MIDI for your DAW, with one named track per voice (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass).
- `GUIDE.md`: this guide.