Caprices No.?s 1 - 6 (for unaccompanied violin) MO112

Violin Solo

Music by Mark O?Connor

36 pages - 20:00 minutes in length



Caprice No. 1 In A Major - p. 1

Caprice No. 2 In G Minor - p. 7

Caprice No. 3 In A Major - p. 13

Caprice No. 4 In D Major - p. 19

Caprice No. 5 In F Major - p. 25

Caprice No. 6 In G Major - p. 31



Caprices No.?s 1 - 6 for unaccompanied violin are among Mark O?Connor?s most critically acclaimed works. Receiving great interest from performers, teachers and students of the violin, O?Connor has contributed music here which will challenge even the most gifted virtuoso. O?Connor?s caprices, like Nicolo Paganini?s and Pietre Locatelli?s, push the violin into a new direction, musically and technically, furthering the possibilities of the instrument. ?Caprice?s No.?s 1 - 6? feature demanding techniques which are desirable for study purposes, and at the same time, are accessible to concert audiences. The violinist will find passages containing complex rhythms, broken chord arpeggios, two-handed pizzicato, various spicatto and double-stopped runs. In addition to these specialized skills, the violinist must master the works? driving and aggressive rhythms in order to perfect the performance of them. This collection is appropriate for the advanced student but isolated selections could be valuable for the intermediate.



Original music printed from the composer?s manuscripts.

Music editing, copying and engraving by Mark O?Connor

using ?Finale? on Apple Macintosh 1986 - 1994



Composed By Mark O?Connor

Caprices No.?s 1 - 6 can be heard on ?Midnight On The Water? Warner Bros. Records

Mark O?Connor - violin



Catalogue Number MO112

Copyright � 1986 by Mark O?Connor Music International

Amazing Grace (unaccompanied violin) MO174

Unaccompanied Violin

Music by Mark O?Connor

2 pages - 3:00 minutes in length



Amazing Grace is a centuries-old hymn whose melody comes from a 500 year-old pipe tune before coming to South Carolina. In the early 1800s, South Carolina choral master William Walker paired it with the lyrics of slave ship captain John Newton?s lyric ?Amazing Grace?. O?Connor?s unaccompanied arrangement in the key of F major with double stops and grace notes has become a violin favorite for decades and appears on his Sony Classical release?Midnight On The Water?. The music is suitable for the advanced level.

Poem For Carlita (for unaccompanied violin) MO149

Violin Solo

Music by Mark O?Connor

5 pages - 7:30 minutes in length



Poem For Carlita In contemporary vocal music, there is a form called a story song. It is an odd form in that it does not contain any departure from the central idea; therefore there is no ?return.? The story has a beginning and ending but uses subtle variation to push the idea along its way. .. much the way loving relationships evolve. The equivalent of the story song in classical music is a Poem, and this is what I have called this piece. An inspiration I used for my musical poem was the ocean and it?s repetition of waves as they fall in to the shoreline. I grew up near the ocean and remember how the sounds of the relentless waves used to calm me. While it was the repetitive sound of the sea that moved me as a child, today, I observed that each wave was not the same but in fact slightly different. I was amazed that it seemed that no two waves looked or sounded the same to me. This natural occurrence seemed to mirror my love for wife Carla. Each day was just something a tiny bit different. It was very natural to make these kinds of life experience connections. Bridges that joined nature, love and art. The poem begins slowly and inquisitively and builds through in intensity with loud and mightily passionate moments of emotion before the music comes down peacefully and reflectively, until the last statement played by the violin signifies that the sea is calm once again.

This virtuosic arrangement of the world-famous movement from 'Carmina Burana' is suitable both as an effective encore and competition piece. Printed with two versions in each edition, it is designed as a study in thirds or in tenths both for the violin and the viola.