Same selection for trombone sextet or SSATBB choir.

One of the best known American spirituals is Deep River. One cannot argue against the beauty of the tune.

I hate to tell you this, but there is no wood in these woodwinds.

This setting is for six saxes. It is a direct transcription of the third movement of the Slide Suite, transposed for the various members of the sax family.

The six parts are for three altos, two tenors, and one baritone. There are two alternate parts: fourth alto substitutes for first tenor, and clarinet or soprano sax substitutes for first alto. Considering you could also use an alto clarinet to subsitute for one of the alto saxes, and possibly a bass clarinet for one of the tenors, I'm not sure how many possible combinations there are, but I would suggest the best effect would be to do it with all saxes (no clarinets) if at all possible.

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Deep river, my home is over Jordan,
Oh, deep river,
I want to cross over into campground.

Deep river, my home is over Jordan,
Oh, deep river, Lord,
I want to cross over into campground.

And when I get to heaven, I will take my seat,
And cast my crown at Jesus' feet.

Deep river, Lord,
I want to cross over into campground.

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MP3 sound sample: entire piece (synthesizer/midi).



DEEP RIVER, an American spiritual arranged by Tom Kirkland, for sax sextet, comes in a pdf file of 566K, with a three-page score, eight one page parts, and a license page, twelve pages in all. Performance time should be about two minutes.