# Old Hundredth, in E-flat major

## Title and instrumentation

**Old Hundredth**: tune from the Genevan Psalter (1551), in your four-part setting, now in E-flat major.

For SATB choir on four staves:
- Soprano: treble clef
- Alto: treble clef
- Tenor: treble clef that sounds an octave lower (the small 8 under the clef), as in your file
- Bass: bass clef

## Duration and form

- 8 bars of 4/4, all quarter notes: 32 chords and one statement of the tune.
- The tune falls into four 8-note phrases: bars 1–2, 3–4, 5–6 and 7–8.
- Your file has no tempo marking, and none is added. At a hymn pace of 76–96 beats per minute, one verse lasts about 20–25 seconds.

## Difficulty and playability notes

The writing is plain four-part harmony that moves together, mostly by step, with no accidentals. The new key has three flats.

Sung ranges in this key:

| Voice | Lowest | Highest |
|---|---|---|
| Soprano | B-flat below middle C | B-flat above middle C |
| Alto | G below middle C | E-flat above middle C |
| Tenor | D below middle C | B-flat below middle C |
| Bass | low D, below the bass staff | E-flat below middle C |

Watch these spots:
- **Basses, low E-flat.** The tonic E-flat at the bottom of the bass staff (one ledger line below) appears 8 times:
  - bar 1, beat 1
  - bar 2, beat 4
  - bar 4, beat 1
  - bar 5, beats 1 and 3
  - bar 6, beat 4
  - bar 7, beat 1
  - bar 8, beat 4
- **Basses, low D.** Bar 5, beat 2 drops to the D below that. These notes are below the usual choral bass range (which usually stops at low E). Many amateur basses will find them weak or out of reach.
- **Sopranos, low B-flat.** Bar 2, beat 1 is a B-flat just below middle C, the bottom of the usual soprano range.
- Altos and tenors sit comfortably, in the middle-to-low part of their ranges.

**Why down a major third and not up a minor sixth.** There are two ways to get from G major to E-flat major. I chose the nearer one, down a major third. It keeps the tune in a moderate, singable place for the melody (B-flat to B-flat), and the choir moves only four semitones from your original.

The other way, up a minor sixth, avoids every low note above. But it would put all four voices near the top of their ranges for the whole verse:
- sopranos on the G just above the treble staff 8 times, with top A-flat twice and top B-flat once
- tenors on the B-flat above middle C 6 times
- altos reaching the E-flat in the top space of the treble staff

If your basses can't manage the low E-flats, I can make that higher version instead.

## Performance notes

- Your file has no dynamics, articulations, rehearsal marks, tempo, lyrics or other performance directions, so this score has none either. Nothing was added. Tempo, dynamics and breathing are yours to set.
- The score doesn't mark it, but if some basses can't reach the low E-flats and the low D, a common rehearsal option is to have them sing those notes an octave higher while the stronger low voices keep the written octave. That is your decision as director.

## What was done and what was not

Task: existing music with only the requested changes — Old Hundredth (Genevan Psalter, 1551), your four-part setting.

**Done:**
- Every note in all four voices moved down exactly a major third, from G major to E-flat major.
- The key signature changed from one sharp to three flats.
- Each note keeps its letter-name relationship. G became E-flat, F-sharp became D, B became G, and so on, so no accidentals appear.

**Kept exactly as in your file:**
- rhythms, meter and number of bars
- the voice-to-staff layout and clefs, including the tenor's octave-treble clef
- part names, title, composer credit, the rights line and the final barline

**Checked:**
- Compared with your file, all 128 notes are exactly four semitones lower, and nothing else differs.
- Transposing the result back up a major third reproduces your file note for note, with the same spelling.
- I looked over the engraved page and read every bar up close.

**Not done:**
- No re-voicing, octave changes or added notes.
- No lyrics, tempo, dynamics or articulations added.
- No separate vocal parts, MIDI or audio, since none were asked for. This delivery contains no recording.

**About the comparison:** a direct note-by-note comparison of this score with your original file reports every chord as different. That is expected, because every pitch was moved down a major third as you asked. With that transposition taken into account, the two scores match exactly.

## Files in this folder

- `score.pdf`: the full SATB score in E-flat major, one page.
- `score.musicxml`: the same score as editable MusicXML for notation software. It holds the same notes, key signature, clefs and layout information as the PDF.
- `GUIDE.md`: this guide.