# Old Hundredth: Option C, Borrowed from G minor ## Title and instrumentation **Old Hundredth: Option C, Borrowed from G minor.** 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 shades the hymn with chords borrowed from G minor (E♭maj7, Cm, Gm7, Am7♭5), reaches the first cadence through a backdoor Cm7–F7, and opens phrase 2 with a slide from E major 7 to E minor. 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:** forward-leaning dominant chords, circle-of-fifths bass lines and one tritone substitution. - **C, Borrowed from G minor (this one):** minor-mode colours inside G major, with a backdoor cadence and a major-to-minor shift. ## 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 D3–E♭4; Bass F2–G3. All inside normal SATB ranges; the range check passed. - The bass's F2 (bar 2, beat 3, on F7) is the lowest note of the three options; the alto's G3 comes in bar 2. - Flats against the G-major key signature: - E♭ in the bass (bars 1 and 6). - B♭ and E♭ in alto and tenor (bars 2, 4, 7 and 8). - F natural (bar 2 bass and tenor, bar 7 alto). - Bar 2: the tenor climbs E–E♭–F–F♯ in half steps. - Bar 3: the tenor sings G♯ then G natural and the alto D♯ then E. This is the major-to-minor shift; tune it slowly. - Moderately advanced. The flats are the main reading challenge; the lines themselves are mostly steps. ## Performance notes - Breathe at the phrase ends (after bars 2, 4 and 6). - The borrowed chords are darker colours inside a major-key hymn. E♭maj7 under the melody's G (bars 1 and 6) and Gm7 (bar 7) can be sung a shade softer, then open up into the D7 that follows. - Bar 2's Cm7–F7 is a "backdoor" approach to G. Let the tenor's rising half steps lead into the Gmaj7. - The final chord is G6 (G–B–E with the melody on G), back in plain major after the minor colours. - 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 1: Em becomes **E♭maj7** (♭VI, borrowed from G minor). In bar 6 it follows D7, so the cadence feels briefly diverted. - Bar 2, beats 2–3: Em–D become **Cm7–F7**, the backdoor approach to G. - Bar 3, beat 1: G becomes **Emaj7**, which then turns to E minor on beat 2 while the melody holds B. - Bar 4, beat 2: C becomes **Cm** (the minor four) before the cadential G/D–D7. - Bar 7, beat 3: Em becomes **Gm7** (tonic minor), so Gmaj7 slides to Gm7 by half steps. - Bar 8, beat 1: Am becomes **Am7♭5**. - Bar 4, beat 1: the G chord is sung with B in the bass (G6/B). In root position your bass and melody would move in octaves (G up to C). - **Chords by bar:** 1 G6 E♭maj7 D7 Cmaj7 · 2 G6/B Cm7 F7 Gmaj7 · 3 Emaj7 Em G/D D7 · 4 G6/B Cm G/D D7 · 5 G6 D7/F♯ Gmaj7 D7 · 6 E♭maj7 Cmaj7 D7 G6 · 7 G6 Gmaj7 Gm7 D7 · 8 Am7♭5 G/D D7 G6. - **One chord sung simpler than its symbol:** bar 3, beat 2 is E minor 7 in the chord plan, but it is sung as a plain E minor chord (E–G–E with the melody on B). With the seventh (D) in an inner voice, the slide from Emaj7 would make parallel fifths; without it, the alto's D♯ rises to E. The score's chord symbol says "Em". - **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. In bars 3–6 I set the path myself to keep the half-step lines and avoid parallels. - **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 (your melody's leap G up to C). - Bar 2, beats 1–2: a hidden fifth between soprano and bass (your melody's leap D up to G). - Bar 4 into bar 5 and bar 5 into bar 6: two places where alto and tenor go from a diminished fifth to a perfect fifth. - Bar 6, beat 3: the tenor rises to C a moment before the alto leaves B, a brief overlap. - Bars 2 and 7: a stricter textbook rule asks the leading note F♯ to rise to G. Here it is the seventh of Gmaj7 and moves on in the jazz way (in bar 7 it slides down to F). - **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, 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.