# Old Hundredth: Option B, Secondary dominants ## Title and instrumentation **Old Hundredth: Option B, Secondary dominants.** A reharmonisation of your four-part setting for unaccompanied SATB choir: Soprano, Alto, Tenor (treble clef sounding an octave lower) and Bass, one staff each. Chord symbols above the soprano name each harmony as sung. **This option in one line:** it replaces many of your chords with chords that pull toward the next one (A7, B7, G7, a C♯ diminished seventh), so the bass often walks in fifths. It ends bar 6 with an A♭7 tritone substitution. The three options at a glance (same melody, same form in each): - **A, Warm colour:** your chords coloured as sixths and sevenths, plus three gentle links. It is the closest to your setting. - **B, Secondary dominants (this one):** forward-leaning dominant chords, circle-of-fifths bass lines and one tritone substitution. - **C, Borrowed from G minor:** E♭maj7, Cm, Cm7–F7 (backdoor), Gm7 and Am7♭5 borrowed from the parallel minor, plus a shift from E major 7 to E minor. ## Duration and form 8 bars of 4/4 in G major at ♩ = 69, about 28 seconds. The form is exactly yours: four 2-bar phrases, the melody in quarter notes throughout, the same phrase endings (bars 2, 4, 6 and 8). Every voice moves one chord per beat. ## Difficulty and playability notes - Ranges: Soprano D4–D5 (your melody); Alto G3–G4; Tenor E♭3–C♯4; Bass F♯2–E3. All inside normal SATB ranges; the range check passed. - Low spots: the bass's F♯2 in bar 5 and the alto's G3 in bar 2. - This is the most chromatic of the three for the inner voices: - The alto sings C♯–C (bar 1), D♯–D–C♯–C (bar 3) and C♯–C–B (bar 6). - The tenor has F natural (bar 4), E♭ (bar 6) and C♯–C (bar 8). - Each is a half-step line; rehearse them slowly as lines before putting chords together. - Bar 6, beat 3 (A♭7): the alto's E♭ sits a minor third under the soprano's F♯. It sounds like a minor third but is written as E♭ against F♯, because the soprano keeps your melody's spelling while the chord is spelled from A♭. - Moderately advanced for a church choir; comfortable for a choir used to jazz or close harmony. ## Performance notes - Breathe at the phrase ends (after bars 2, 4 and 6). - The approach chords want a slight lean into the chord they lead to: B7 to Em7 (bars 3, 5 into 6, and 7), A7 or A9 to D7 (bars 1, 3 and 8), A7 to A♭7 (bar 6), G7/B to C6 (bar 4). - Keep the bass legato in bar 2 (B–C♯–D) and bar 6 (E–A–A♭–G); these are the option's signature lines. - The final chord is G6 (G–E–B with the melody on G). - Your source has no words, and none were added. Every voice moves together, one syllable per beat, if you add a text. ## What was done and what was not Task: existing music with only the requested changes. Old Hundredth, from your attached four-part setting. - **Your harmony, read first.** Your setting's harmony is clear: one chord a beat, all in G major. No question was needed. - **Shared first step (my choice, the same in all three options):** every chord keeps its root and bass but is read as a sixth or seventh chord (G6, Gmaj7, Em7, D7, Cmaj7, Am7, C6). - **What this option changes (each taken from a list of legal substitutions that fit your melody):** - Bar 1, beat 2 and bar 6, beat 2: Em7 and Cmaj7 become **A7**. In bar 1 it leads to D7; in bar 6 it slides to A♭7. - Bar 2, beat 2: Em becomes **C♯dim7**, with the bass rising B–C♯–D. - Bar 3, beat 1; bar 5, beat 4; bar 7, beat 2: G, D and G become **B7**, leading to Em7. - Bar 3, beat 3 and bar 8, beat 2: the G/D chords become **A9** (A7 with your melody's B as the ninth), leading to D7. - Bar 4, beat 1: G becomes **G7 with B in the bass**, leading to C6. - Bar 6, beat 3: D7 becomes **A♭7**, the tritone substitution, so the bass slides E–A–A♭–G into the cadence. - **Chords by bar:** 1 G6 A7 D7 Cmaj7 · 2 G6/B C♯dim7 D7 Gmaj7 · 3 B7 Em7 A9 D7 · 4 G7/B C6 G/D D7 · 5 G6 D7/F♯ Gmaj7 B7 · 6 Em7 A7 A♭7 G6 · 7 G6 B7 Em7 D7 · 8 Am7 A9 D7 G6. - **Voicing:** alto, tenor and bass are new lines. - Every chord's spacing was taken from a list of legal four-part spacings with your melody note on top, choosing smooth inner lines and complete chords. - The two A9 chords are the exception: four-part spacings with the melody on the ninth were not on that list, so I wrote them myself (bass A, tenor G, alto C♯, melody B). - **Kept exactly:** your melody (all 32 notes, same pitches, spellings and rhythm; checked note for note against your file), key, meter and form. Every difference from your file is in the alto, tenor and bass. - **Checked:** there are no parallel fifths or octaves between any two voices. A strict counterpoint check notes these, all kept on purpose: - Bar 4, beats 1–2: a hidden octave between soprano and bass, caused by your melody's leap from G up to C. - Bar 6, beats 1–2: a hidden fifth between soprano and bass, as your melody drops G–E over the bass E–A. - Bar 2, beats 2–3: soprano and bass move from a diminished fifth (C♯ under G) to a perfect fifth (D under A) as C♯dim7 resolves to D7. - In bars 2 and 5, a stricter textbook rule asks the leading note F♯ to rise to G. Here F♯ belongs to D7 and Gmaj7 and moves on in the jazz way: held, or passed into the next chord. - **Not done:** - No option is chosen for you. No lyrics, fermatas or breath marks were added. - Dynamics: only a soft opening (mp) and the tempo word "Gently, with warmth" are suggestions of mine. - I have not listened to this setting. This commission delivers no recording; the MIDI file holds the notes. - **About the MIDI file:** - Four tracks named Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass, on the General MIDI "Choir Aahs" sound, at ♩ = 69. - Notes are at one even loudness; the mp marking is not played. - MIDI cannot carry note spelling (the bar 6 F♯/G♭ distinction), chord symbols, clefs or the printed text. The MusicXML file keeps all of these. ## Files in this folder - `score.pdf`: full score, US Letter, one page. - `score.musicxml`: editable score with chord symbols, for notation software. - `score.mid`: MIDI for your DAW, one track per voice part. - `GUIDE.md`: this guide.