One of my favorite Alice Parker pieces is her arrangement of “L’Amour de Moy.”
This week I’m recommending some favorite Alice Parker arrangements and compositions from across her fruitful 6-decade career writing choral music.
Today: L’Amour de Moy (link to publisher site)
Genre: Fifteenth Century French
Voicing: TTBB a cappella
Alice was associated with Americana, but her love of folk melodies knew no borders. This fifteenth century French tune is a lovely and intimate expression of love. The writing is sophisticated without being complicated. While French is never my first go-to language as a conductor, this piece is well worth the work of learning proper pronunciation. It’s a magnificent in its gentle homophony and sweet echoes.
Video: The Rockford Aces (2019) Ethan Burke, Soloist
A final performance practice note. I knew Alice well enough to state with full confidence that her core belief was that only 5-10% of what she envisioned could make it to the page. She anticipated – she expected – that choral musicians would use her score as a starting point for a rich interpretation, and she was bored with performances that used the score as the endpoint rather than the beginning. You must have strong musical instincts and understanding of the tradition, but you must go beyond the score.