Product Description
This piece is a great choral introduction to the genius of Bach and the larger world of advanced counterpoint and polyphony. Accessible to mid-level High School choirs, practice tracks are also available for purchase and download.
Originally designating a pearl of irregular shape, "Baroque" describes a style of European architecture, music, and art of the 17th and 18th centuries that is characterized by ornate detail. Jazz, by contrast, is described by Louis Armstrong as "If you have to ask what it is, you'll never know." To introduce the elaborate works of Bach in the freedom of a vocal jazz idiom is a concept which is a match made in heaven by Ward Swingle.
This piece is a fusion of Baroque and jazz styles offered in the "Swingle style." Ward Swingle studied music, particularly jazz, from a very young age. He specialized in scat singing jazz standards and subsequently applied the scat singing idea to the works of Johann Sebastian Bach. This concept was the foundation for The Swingle Singers whose early recordings won five Grammy Awards.
In the spirit of Ward Swingle, "Fugue"is set with scat lyrics with improvised vocal percussion.
2017 Choral Contest Entry
Laurie Betts Hughes, ASCAP | www.LaurieBettsHughes.com
This product was created by a member of ArrangeMe, Hal Leonard's global self-publishing community of independent composers, arrangers, and songwriters. ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.