Between the Lines: "Lovely Rainbow," by Katie O'Connor-Ballantyne

Written with developing voices and ears in mind, Lovely Rainbow is a partner song setting of the colorful poem "The Rainbow," and is just right for choirs seeking to build harmony-singing skills. Independent yet complementary melodic lines encourage singers to retain their individual parts, while the cascading piano accompaniment subtly reinforces key notes and entrances.

Composer Katie O'Connor-Ballantyne is Associate Editor of Classroom & Choral Publications at Alfred Music. Over the course of her educational career, Katie has taught musicians of every age and stage, from elementary general music and piano students, to middle and high school choral singers, to undergraduate and adult aural skills and music theory students. Formerly the Artistic Director of the Ithaca Children and Youth Chorus, Katie is an active guest conductor, adjudicator, choral clinician, and presenter at music education conferences and festivals.

What inspired you to write Lovely Rainbow?

One day last summer, as I was driving in the car with my kids after a particularly strong thunderstorm, we were astonished to see a brilliant rainbow highlighted against the dark sky, spanning the entire horizon. It was so beautiful that my kids begged me to pull over, stop, and take a picture. Their sense of joy and wonder at this natural phenomenon rekindled my own, and it was just a day or two later that I found Walter de la Mare's poem. As is the case with most of my poetic settings, after a couple of read-throughs of the poem, the basic melody popped into my head. When I turned my attention to writing the piano accompaniment, I wanted to convey the feeling of the breeze pushing the clouds along, so I settled on the cascading waves of sixteenth notes in the right hand.

What teaching suggestions do you have to share for Lovely Rainbow?

The contour of the Part II melody actually forms a rainbow-shaped arch in the first two measures. Try giving your singers a brightly-colored pipe cleaner and having them bend it into the shape of each two-bar phrase idea. When you begin working on putting Part I and Part II together for the partner song, consider having each section stand in a circle facing inward, with the piano at the center. This will give the singers the security of being able to look and hear across the section circle for support and reinforcement, while still being able to hear the other part nearby. As singers get more confident, move the circles closer together (perhaps one inside the other), or move back into your typical performance formation. For performance, consider dressing your choir in brightly colored shirts to sing this song, or have them choose a brightly colored accent item (a scarf, a tie, a hat, etc.) to add to their regular concert attire.

What message do you have for singers learning this piece?

How do you feel when you get surprised by a rainbow in the sky? Which color grabs your attention the most? Try to sing this song with a sense of enthusiastic wonder. Do you know how rainbows form in the sky? Can you recreate one in your classroom with the assistance of your teacher?