'The Crown' is an award winning Netflix series that has won the hearts of many people around the world. Hans Zimmer wrote the theme for the main title with Rupert Gregson-Williams, from Wiltshire, composing music for the first series, joined by Lorne Balfe, a Scottish composer for series two.


I have made an arrangement for String Quartet and hope to make more for different combinations of instruments and piano in the future.

As usual my arrangement can be played by professionals for concerts, weddings and events but also tackled by young people. The key is the original one, D minor, which is easy for strings, and younger players can make use of open strings and take as many bows as they need. I have included some bowing as a guide. Most of the double stopping includes one open string but less experienced players can leave out one of the notes where necessary, especially of it is doubled by one of the other players. I have included some 'commas' in this arrangement and recommend recovering the bow and watching the leader like a hawk!

The long ?piano? sections will need lots of crescendo and decrescendo markings to sound effective. I put down some ideas, but feel free to experiment. The main thing is that they grow and decay again, to keep up the tension. Without that movement, those soft passages might sound boring, albeit the chords are gorgeous.

I have included a crescendo in the penultimate bar before each new dynamic, but ideally a long crescendo is needed between each new dynamic marking. The texture becomes gradually thicker, which will help, but I am looking forward to Capriccio Quartet recording this one as they are so good at building up excitement.

There must be a great deal of drama at letters D and O. After a massive increase in dynamic I am hoping for a ?breath? at the comma, and a very sudden softness for the chords that follow. I also like harmonics for the viola at bars 21-22, giving way to a natural note on the fourth beat of 22. I would like the harmonic in viola to be almost imperceptible as the piece closes out. I haven?t marked it as such, and I couldn?t write a ?simile? on the page without clashes of staves or an extra page. I intended it to be a harmonic to the end though.

Please send me any recordings you make because I love to hear people playing my arrangements, even if it is a phone recording, and especially younger players! I am on facebook and I have a Youtube Channel too. Helen Marple-Horvat Songwriter, Arranger, Composer.

This unique version of Dua Lipa's "Don't Start Now" was performed by Dallas String Quartet in their latest music video, and is now available to your ensemble as well!

"If you don't wanna see me dancing with..." some random person's iPod speaker instead of listening to your amazing string quartet, then Don't Start buying shoddy arrangements from free-gig-whatevers dot com. Instead, make the right choice for your ensemble and invest in high quality charts from real, professional arrangers. What you're getting here is not a 72% accurate transcription of someone's Dua Lipa YouTube piano cover that has been laid out "legibly enough" on 4 staves. This is a tasteful setting of one of the sexiest disco grooves to hit radio since the Beegee's untimely decline, and it highlights all those hip string parts from Dua's original track while adding some original figures to really make this tune pop as an instrumental version.

Within the pages of this fantastically funky fresh score, you'll find some simple (but effective) chopping, slapping & extended string techniques to help your ensemble get their groove on, an extendable outro solo where players can stretch their creative legs on a dull gig, and enough sneaky reharminizations to earn an oh-so-satisfying nod of approval from that one guy in the back of the audience who used to be in a jazz band.

This version of the score includes optional RHYTHM SECTION PARTS for guitar, bass, & drum set in addition to the standard string quartet. While this arrangement is more than capable of moving, grooving and soothing with just the string parts, there are a variety of scenarios in which you may find adding some of those "loud" instruments may benefit your ensemble, such as:

- Cool collaborations with non-classical musicians.

- Making peace and finally finding common ground with those heathens who use frets to play in tune.

- Performing at outdoor events... or anywhere where alcohol is served. Small talk doesn't stand a chance against drums!

- You just got the stage plot for the gig and are concerned people won't take you seriously if you have less than 7 inputs on your rider.

- You carpooled to the wedding with the band, and figured you guys might as well play something together during the reception rather than spend all night starting at the appetizers that you aren't allowed to eat.

... and the list goes on.

Help take your ensemble to a new level when expanding your gig repertoire this year. This chart will keep your musicians inspired and your audience's insatiable need to consume brand new music in alternative instrumentations satisfied. To be clear, some practice and/or rehearsal will likely be required, so sight reading is not recommended, but with just a little bit of effort this arrangement will be FUN for your group to play!

Performance time - approximately 3:00, longer if you want to vamp the outro

Questions? Feel free to contact me via my website, www.kylepudenz.com/ or on the 'Insta @theviolinvagabond.