All The Pretty Little Horses

"All The Pretty Little Horses" is a traditional American folk lullaby that has a simple, yet captivating melody. Our arrangement has three vocal parts, but as usual, parts 2 and 3 are optional since the melody stays in part 1 for the entire piece. Part 3 is written in an upper tenor range for your lower, changing, and changed voices. If you choose to perform this with just part 1, or with just parts 1 and 2, we have included a performance track for each of those options on our web site. And to help teach and learn the song, we have isolated parts 2 and 3 and put them on our web site as well. As always with a piece like this, you may enjoy the challenge of singing it a cappella. There is a demonstration of that included also.

The song begins with a haunting duet between a viola and a cello. Then, the singers enter in bar three – part 1 is answered by part 2, and then part 2 is answered by part 3. It's a very stirring effect. It's also the way the piece ends. A soloist sings part 1 from bar 11 through bar 18. This, too, is optional, but if you have a soloist you'd like to feature, this would be a great opportunity to do so. Notice that between bars 29 and 33 the accompaniment tapers to just a string quartet. If you were to perform this live with the piano accompaniment, you could make this a beautiful a cappella moment. However, if your singers would prefer the support of the piano, the accompanist could play the cued notes provided in the score. The recorded orchestral accompaniment features two flutes and an alto flute playing the three vocal parts. In addition to that, there is a piano, an acoustic guitar, a 12-string guitar, a fretless bass, and strings.

From a music theory standpoint, this tune and its harmony are an excellent example of the Aeolian mode, which is a musical scale equivalent to the natural minor scale, characterized by a somber, sad, or mystical sound.