Multiple Echoes (Echo Song)
Doo-Wop Madrigals
by Orlando di Lasso
arr. by Gregg Smith
Four SATB choirs a cappella
Laurendale Associates

CH-1071

Review from The Choral Journal, October, 1996

One of the pieces in the Doo-Wop Madrigal series, this jazz arrangement is based on Orlando di Lasso's Echo Song. The ranges are reason able, and the piece provides an interesting contrast to traditional vocal jazz literature. Gregg Smith uses the exact notes found in di Lasso's original but employs three echoes rather than one, thus creating the need to divide the ensemble into four unaccompanied SATB groups. The echo choirs may be placed in various locations throughout the concert hall to provide the desired effect. The entire piece is sung with inventive scat syllables and is exceptionally well-edited with regard to articulation and dynamics. The octavo includes a key for scat pronunciation, performance notes, and a discography. Multiple Echoes would work well (perhaps preceded by a performance of di Lasso's original) for a jazz choir of at least sixteen voices or for a madrigal ensemble.

Review by Raymond J. Salucka