For use in lessons or for your first concert performances - Easy Concert Pieces for Violin and Piano contains easy and well-known solo pieces from the Renaissance to the modern era, carefully selected according to technical and musical demands: Volume 1 Easy, Volume 2 Intermediate. All the pieces can be played in first position. Besides original compositions by Milan, Purcell, Corelli, Duval or Telemann there are readily playable arrangements of classical masterpieces such as Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Handel's Firework Music or Mozart's Magic Flute and modern compositions from the world of pop, jazz, spirituals, Bossa Nova and tango.

Item Number: S9.Q25349

25 easy pieces from the Baroque, Classical and Romantic eras, playable in the first three finger patterns in the first position, for violin pupils from the second year of learning. Apart from lesser known works, this edition also contains many popular pieces, such as themes from Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Handel's Fireworks Music and Water Music, Mozart's Magic Flute or Beethoven's Symphony No. 9. This volume's intention is to grant access to classical masterpieces of concert literature with the help of such easy arrangements and spread the joy of classical music. A treasure trove for auditions at schools and music schools.

Duration: 4:55, Score: 6 pages, Solo part: 1 page, piano part: 2 pages. A very famous aria (Ombra mai fu) from "Xerxes"
Suitable for any venue requiring meditative music. Excellent choice for a recital encore.

Xerxes
Xerxes is, in fact, an opera seria in three acts by Handel. Moreover, Handel conducted the premiere performance in London in 1738. Handel casts the opera in Persia in 470 BC. The part of Xerxes was indeed originally sung by a soprano castrato. Nowadays, the part is generally sung by a mezzo-soprano or conversely a counter-tenor. In the first place, Xerxes sings an opening aria, Ombra mai fu to a plane tree. Handel sets this aria to one of his most truly famous melodies. Although many refer to it traditionally as Handel?s ?Largo,? Handel has, on the contrary, clearly marked "Larghetto" in the score.

Handel Background
George Frideric Handel (1685 - 1759) was born in Germany, but eventually became a British citizen. Nonetheless, he was a famous Baroque composer. In fact, he became famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems, and organ concertos. Handel studied music and, by and large, worked as a composer in Germany and Italy before moving to London. On the whole, Handel was very familiar with the contemporary music of Italy and Germany.

Career in England
It is important to realize that Italian opera was all the rage in England at the time. Moreover, Handel was really good at writing them. Therefore, he started not one but three opera companies in England. Alexander's Feast was a huge success in 1736, but Handel nevertheless began composing English choral works. After success with the Messiah in 1742) he certainly never again wrote an Italian opera. Consequently, he died in 1759, a treasured genius. Accordingly, the English government gave him full state honors at his funeral. Hence, he is buried in Westminster Abbey in London.

Legacy
Music historians agree that Handel was in general one of the greatest composers of the Baroque era. To demonstrate, his works such as the Messiah, Water Music, and Music for the Royal Fireworks remain consistently popular up to the present time. He especially composed the coronation anthem, Zadok the Priest for the coronation of George II. Nevertheless, it has specifically been performed at every succeeding British coronation since. His oratorio Solomon has by all means also continued to be prevalent. As a matter of fact, the Sinfonia from act 3 was featured the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony. Handel was particularly prolific. To enumerate, he wrote over forty operas. Since the late 1960s, we have expressly experienced a revival of baroque music. Similarly, we have especially seen a pique of interest in historically informed musical performance. Since his death in 1779, interest in Handel's music has, all in all, expanded.



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