Ferry Cross the Mersey
Female tenor: E4 - G5
Female lead: B flat 3 - C5
Female baritone: C4 - E flat 5
Female bass: A flat 3 - C5
Male tenor: B flat 3 - B flat 4
Male lead: E flat 3 - G4
Male baritone: C3 - D flat 4
Male bass: F flat 2 - A flat 3
This 8-part arrangement is inspired by the versions by Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Pat Metheny, the first of which uses a wash of sound to create an eery and magical atmosphere, while the second explores rich re-harmonisations of the well-known tune. (Well, I say well-known, but I had never actually heard Gerry and the Pacemakers' original until I started this chart. But I realise I'm sometimes a bit behind the curve on things like knowing music...)
The challenges in this arrangement lie not in the individual lines but in the variously lush and dissonant harmonies that need musical confidence and secure vocal support to sustain.
It is notated for combined men's and women's barbershop ensembles (i.e. using treble, bass alta, treble bassa and bass clefs), though it works as a single 8-part texture, freely combining and layering the voices across the two ensembles.
