"I Want It That Way" is one of the Backstreet Boys' biggest hits, and anyone who grew up in the 90's and early 2000's probably knows this one by heart! This version for string quartet will be perfect for pop concerts, solo & ensemble concerts, weddings, receptions, and any other occasion that needs some boy band throwback nostalgia - you're sure to get everyone singing along! Full of catchy melodies, beautiful layered harmonies, and a danceable groove held down by the viola and cello, this arrangement is just as much fun to listen to as it is to play. Rated intermediate - there's nothing very difficult in this chart (except possibly intonation when the key changes to B major at the end!), and it will definitely be playable for students and easily sightreadable for professionals.

Why choose Cellobat Charts arrangements? For any musician who knows what they're doing, the answer is easy: just listen to them. Every freelance musician has thrown hard-earned money away on questionable, error-filled charts by unknown arrangers from weird corners of the Internet. But watch out -- inferior arrangements not only make gigs less enjoyable to play, but they also make your group sound bad to your client and audience, no matter how great your players really are. That's why Cellobat Charts is here: to provide students and working string players alike with high-quality versions of highly requested music. My arrangements are guaranteed to be energetic, fun to play, and enjoyable to listen to, whether or not you're familiar with the original songs. Hear the difference for yourself! Full videos of many Cellobat Charts arrangements are available on YouTube so you know exactly what you're getting. Click "Watch" near the item details at the top of the page for full video of "I Want It That Way." Crowd pleasing guaranteed.

Sarah "Cellobat" Chaffee earned her bachelor's degree in cello performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music and is now based in Las Vegas. She currently performs with Aerosmith in their "Deuces Are Wild" residency at The Park MGM Theater on the Las Vegas Strip. Sarah is also the principal cellist in David Perrico's Pop Strings Orchestra, a 14-piece band that performs every Friday and Saturday at Caesars Palace, and she plays regularly for Premiere Wedding Music and Bella Electric Strings. Sarah has performed and recorded with many other artists including Halsey, Disturbed, M�tley Cr�e, Celine Dion, Kygo, Ricky Martin, Sarah Brightman, Il Divo, and Lady Antebellum. She can be found at:
http://www.cellobat.com
http://www.instagram.com/cellobat
http://www.youtube.com/c/SarahCellobatChaffee

Here is a string quartet arrangement of Joe Hisaishi's "Summer," which serves as the main theme for the movie Kikujiro, a 1999 Japanese film directed by Takeshi Kitano. This arrangement comes with a score and a set of parts for 2 violins, viola, and cello. The original piece really embraced the movie's light-hearted atmosphere, which I really wanted to replicate in this arrangement with lots of pizzicato and syncopated rhythms. I know it says for Advanced Intermediate, but as long as you know how to play up to 4th position (for first violin), and you are comfortable with syncopated rhythms and some 16th-note runs, you should be fine.

Score: 3 pages, String parts 1 page each. The First Noel arranged for Alto Sax & Piano with new harmony for the final verse.

Origins
The First Noel is an English Christmas carol. Even more, it was probably written in the late Cornish Renaissance period. While other versions spell the title as Nowell, this is just a colloquial variation. Furthermore, Noel is an older word meaning ?Christmas.? Therefore ?the First Noel? translates as ?the First Christmas.? First of all, Gilbert and Sandy published the earliest version. As a result, this version appears in the ?Carols Ancient and Modern? songbook of 1823. William Sandy edited and arranged the book. Similarly, his partner Davies Gilbert edited and added the familiar extra verses. The First Noel: String Quartet Version comes with new harmony in final verse for more energy and drive.

Stainer
Organist and composer Sir John Stainer published the most noteworthy customary arrangement in the 1870?s. Stainer is above all famous for his songbook entitled: Christmas Carols New and Old (1871). This volume served as an important catalyst for reviving the English Christmas carol. Other famous Stainer arrangements from this book are such titles as What Child Is This, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Good King Wenceslas, and I Saw Three Ships.

Diatonic Function
The melodic structure in the First Noel is uncommon among English folk tunes. It simply repeats one phrase twice then follows a variation refrain. All three phrases of the song end on the mediant scale degree. This is unusual because the diatonic function of the mediant is non-final compared to the more usual tonic or even dominant degrees. Consequently, this gives the song as kind of open-ended feeling ? like maybe it never really ends.

Political Context
The Catholic clergy sang carols outside of the church in Latin. After the Protestant Reformation, the reformers thought it would be better for everyone to sing carols. They decided to bring music back to the common folk. So, they translated the lyrics from Latin into common language. Moreover, the Protestants wanted more control over the music in church than what the Vatican allowed. Protestant composers such as William Byrd composed complex polyphonic Christmas music that they called carols. Nonetheless, some famous folk carols were composed in this era. Eminent composers in the nineteenth century began to revise and adapt them. Consequently, they revived the English carol.