Useful Music

Thanks to a couple of good string teachers and and a bunch of dedicated families, we are able, in our relatively rural part of downstate Illinois, to have a summer string orchestra of 30-40 people of all ages and abilities that we call "Summer Strings." I made a post about it last year.

This summer people got to practice their parts between rehearsals, unlike last year, when our meetings were mainly sight-reading sessions. We also decided to play a concert in the town band shell (it was a great success: an hour of music without a conductor with only five "rehearsals"). We also decided to make it possible for near-beginners to have their own easy-to-play part, thus creating a 5-voice ensemble. By the third rehearsal everyone understood the importance of playing the right pitches and rhythms. There is nothing like context to quietly prove a point.

I made a bunch of arrangements of non-PD pieces (pieces that I will never be able to publish) for this ensemble that I would like to make available to anyone interested in using them. I also have some arrangements of pieces for viola quartet and cello quartet that are a lot of fun to play. I'm so excited about this ensemble that I'm spending the year working on new music for next summer.

If you are interested in any of these pieces, just send me an email (elainefine (at) gmail (dot) com, and I'll send you a PDF.

Music for String Orchestra (violin 1, violin 2, violin 2b--a part for violinists to be--, viola, cello)

All I ask of you
Be Our Guest
Before the Throne
Climb Every Mountain
Edelweiss
May the Force be With You
Only Time
Pachelbel Canon
Star Wars Theme
Vivaldi A minor Concerto

Viola Quartet

All I ask of you violas
Climb Every Mountain, violas (which just made its Idaho debut at Jen's viola camp)
Mozart Wind Adagio
The Impossible Dream

Cello Quartet

All I ask of you cellos

Tags: string orchestra, beginning violinists, multiple viola arrangements, multiple cello music