photo credit: Martin Katler, Unsplash

One of the most fun parts of my job is selecting repertoire for our older-adult choirs to perform. I do this three times a year—with Linda Powell on our spring and fall sessions, and with Sandy on music for Summer Rocks. Those of you in the current session are now familiar—from the inside—of the beautiful arrangement that we are doing of “Michael, Row the Boat Ashore.” It’s the most difficult piece we’re singing this spring, for sure. Based on the rehearsals I’ve been in lately, the piece feels like it’s really starting to take musical shape after many weeks of very hard work. (It was fun to stop in at Arlington Heights last week and to have a busman’s holiday in the bass section, while Paul directed—a rare treat for me to just get to sing our repertoire and not direct.)

It’s also the time in our session when I am pulling together the narration that will be spoken between the songs at our upcoming concerts. What better way to get background on a composition than to ask the person who did the writing?! You can do this with living composers. I decided to send an email last week to every composer who wrote or arranged anything for our current session.

Of the eight arrangers on our program, I’m gratified that so far three people have written back! One of them is Earlene Rentz, who did the arrangement of “Michael, Row.” I will share her detailed response with you shortly. Earlene has actually done two different arrangements of this tune in her career, which now spans more than two decades. (She had to ask me which of the publishers it was, because they are different pieces altogether.)

I don’t know how many choirs for older adults are doing repertoire like this, but Earlene seems to indicate that working with music in this many voice parts is rare these days. Who knew? Anyway, it was nice to have us complimented in that way. She sweetly refers to us singers as “students,” probably because most of the people buying choral sheet music these days are teaching in schools. I guess we are all lifelong learners, yes?

I’m especially happy to have background on this piece because it is so unusual and so very well done. I’ve seen thousands of choral arrangements in my career, and this one is truly special. I get a thrill every time I conduct it, especially the last three pages, where something extraordinary takes shape and the spirit of the song takes wing. It’s beyond my words to describe; Earlene somehow takes the essence of the tune and elevates it to a new plane of inspiration. (I had better quit while I’m ahead… I’m reminded now of the famous quote from Thelonious Monk, who said, “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.”) So let’s hear from Earlene herself.

Earlene has just moved from Texas to North Carolina, where she is in a new home in Asheville. She generously took time out of her unpacking and settling in to write these notes for us. She also gave us permission to put them in this blogpost. This information is far more than we have time to share from the stage, so consider yourself fortunate—you are getting the inside scoop right here!

She writes:

Well… you “took me back” to my early days of arranging, and I couldn’t be more grateful to you for doing so. Wow….I am really impressed that your group is doing a piece with lots of divisi, etc. (not the norm these days), and…..I want you to send me a recording of your group singing it. I would absolutely love that, if you … wouldn’t mind doing so. It’s fun to see the things I wrote 20 years ago, and know that I still really like them.

Okay….as for my “mindset” and inspiration at the time, there are a few things I remember:

1) For the beginning section, I remember that I wanted constant movement, just like the water underneath a boat. We had a lake house, and I loved going out with my husband and cruising the lake gently as we fished in a boat. It was one of the greatest times of my life … and the lake was mesmerizing.

2) Harmony on the bottom three parts, with a little high obligato figure by the sopranos. They are to be noticed, but the ATB parts are more important (measure 16). They are subtle reminders of the theme of the piece … someone happy and loving the water.

3) The gospel style is gradually realized, giving credence to the fact that it is a spiritual. The boat rocks…the spiritual rocks…in different ways, but we are trying to find style painting that reflects the genre and the musical style, making compatible partners.

4) Lastly, the imitation of “Trumpet sounds” … we often have imitation in fanfares, and this is the fanfare of voices that will lead into the homophonic ending, where voices have opportunities to line up vertically, with strength, and those syncopated passages add energy that drives to the end. I think it is really important that the “Hallelujah” is repeated over and over … giving us the idea that “at the end of the day,” it is going to be a really good thing that we have rowed over Jordan to the “next thing.”

That’s where my head was, Jonathan. Hopefully, students will have great fun singing this arrangement, and don’t forget to send me a recording!

Many thanks! I know they are doing a great job with this.

–Earlene Rentz

Many thanks to Earlene for her time and thoughtfulness.