# Old Hundredth — for soprano, alto and tenor voices with cello

## Title and instrumentation

**Old Hundredth** (tune from the Genevan Psalter, 1551), in the four-part setting you supplied, re-scored for:

- Soprano (voices)
- Alto (voices)
- Tenor (voices)
- Violoncello, playing the bass line in place of the bass singers

## Duration and form

One verse of 8 bars in 4/4, in G major, all in crotchets as in your setting. At the suggested crotchet = 80 a verse lasts about 24 seconds. Nothing is written out as a repeat, so sing as many verses as you need. Your file has no words, so none are printed.

## Difficulty and playability notes

- **Voices:** every sung note is exactly as in your file. Soprano D4–D5, alto B3–G4, tenor F♯3–D4. An automatic range check found all three parts inside normal choral ranges.
- **Tenor clef:** the tenor part is printed in the treble clef and sung an octave lower than written, which is how tenors normally read it. The clef has no small "8" beneath it. If your tenors are used to seeing that "8", tell them it is the same reading.
- **Cello:** the cello plays the bass line at the same pitch the basses would have sung (F♯2 to G3), not an octave lower. So every chord keeps its original bass note and inversion. The part sits low on the instrument, around the open G and D strings, all in bass clef with no high positions. An automatic playability check passed all 32 notes. It is an easy part.

## Performance notes

- **Tempo:** crotchet = 80 is my suggestion, a steady, unhurried congregational pace for an all-crotchet setting. Take whatever pace suits your singers and building.
- **Cello sound:** only the tempo is printed. Everything below is advice, not marked in the part. Play arco throughout with a full, singing tone. The cello is now the only bass under three vocal lines, so it can play a little more fully than a doubling instrument would. Match the singers' dynamic level verse by verse.
- **Repeated notes:** separate them slightly so the line keeps moving. For example: the cello's repeated Ds in bars 3, 4 and 8, the soprano's three Bs in bar 3, the alto's three Ds in bar 5 and the tenor's three Gs in bar 3.
- **Breathing and phrasing:** your setting marks no fermatas or breaths. If your congregation pauses at line ends, the cellist should follow the singers.

## What was done and what was not

Task: an arrangement of existing music — Old Hundredth (your four-part setting).

- **Done:** the Bass line moved to the violoncello note for note and rhythm for rhythm, at the same sounding pitch. Soprano, alto and tenor are unchanged. No line was moved by an octave.
- **Checked:** I compared the finished score, and the delivered MusicXML file, with your file at every one of the 32 beats at exact pitch. No note was added, dropped, moved or respelled.
- **Added:** one tempo mark, crotchet = 80 (my choice; see above). Nothing else was added: no dynamics, bowings, breath marks or words.
- **Not changed:** your setting's own voice-leading. An automatic check finds the same 26 items in your original and in this version, for example parallel octaves and fifths, many involving the bass line. One case is the alto and bass in bar 2, beats 1 to 2. Your brief asked me not to change your material, so they stay as written. If you want any of them revised, say so and I'll prepare a version.
- **Layout:** the title, composer credit ("Genevan Psalter (1551)") and the rights line at the foot of the page come from your file. All four staves share one bracket; the voices and cello are not bracketed separately.
- **No recording:** this commission delivers no recording of any part. The MIDI file is note data for your own software, not audio.

## Files in this folder

- `score.pdf`: full score (one page).
- `score.musicxml`: editable full score. It reproduces your file's notes exactly, with the cello on the bass line and the tempo mark. The tenor is stored as a treble-clef part that sounds an octave lower, so notation programs show and play it as printed here. The file names no playback sounds, so your notation program will pick its own.
- `score.mid`: MIDI for your DAW, one track per part (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Violoncello), tempo 80, 4/4. The three voice tracks use the General MIDI "Choir Aahs" sound and the cello track "Cello". Every note has the same loudness, because your setting has no dynamics. MIDI keeps pitches, rhythms, tempo and part names. It does not keep the key signature, how notes are spelled (F♯ rather than G♭), clefs, the tenor's written octave or the composer credit.
- `parts/Soprano.pdf`, `parts/Alto.pdf`, `parts/Tenor.pdf`, `parts/Violoncello.pdf`: one page each, with the tempo mark.