Nymphea Reflection is a work by renowned composer Kaija Saariaho arranged for String Orchestra. Commissioned by the Schleswig Holstein Festival it was first performed on the 16th of August 2001 inElmshorn Germany by Sinfonietta Cracovia conducted by John Axelrod. Saariaho states that the starting point for Nymphea Reflection came from the idea of arranging her stringquartet Nymphea. Originally working on a straight arrangement she eventually realised that this would be very difficult and she'd need to find a new way of composing that particular piece of music. She designed a formal conceptfor each of the six sections imbuing them with very different characters.  Her simulation of electronic processing by means of orchestration is an innovative take on a new form while the effect ofthe poem by Arseniy Tarkovsky whispered by the musicians gives a haunting new perspective to both music and words.

Easy music for string groups. Playstrings provides an enjoyable and varied repertoire for young string orchestras carefully structured in two levels. The ‘Easy’ level does not normally exceed Grade 2 in difficulty with most partsplayable in first position while the ‘Moderately Easy’ level includes some parts of around Grade 3 standard. At easy level alternative parts are provided so that the absence of viola or a double bass does not prevent the piecefrom being performed. Available in score or sets of instrumental parts. There are over 30 titles covering a wide range of styles including classical pieces folk tunes and Christmas collections. Playstrings is an idealintroduction to orchestral playing for young string players. Set of 21 parts contains: 4 x Violin 1 4 x Violin 2 4 x Violin 3 2 x Viola 1 2 x Viola 2 2 x Cello 1 2 x Cello 2 1 x Double Bass.

Largo In Homage to B.A.C.H. was commissioned by the Carmel Bach Festival 2013 and Music Director Paul Goodwin to whom the work is dedicated.COMPOSER NOTE:My very first idea was to use the BACH initials as a basis for the work - not as the melodic motif often used by composers but rather as a harmonic structure. This is possible because in the German musical tradition B stands for B flat and H for B natural. This led to the thought that there would be four short sections each led by a different soloist forming an emotional journey: Lamentoso (mournful) Ardente (fervent) Inquieto (restless) and Sereno (peaceful).TheDouble Bass leads the first section B. Lamentoso (B flat major). The Cello leads the next A. Ardente (A major) faster and higher in pitch to reflect the change of mood and when the Viola soloist urgently interrupts in C. Inquieto (C major) the scene is set for a big climax. In the final section H. Sereno (B minor) the mood persuaded by the Violin soloist quietens and eventually leads to a brief quote from the famous chorale from the St. Matthew Passion O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden which ends the work in calm and peace with a 'tierce de Picardie'.In turn each soloist carries the linear activity as protagonist on this emotional journey and the accompaniment to each section is dominated by the ?tonality? indicated. But there is also a mysterious ?misty? overlay only dissipating after the Viola?s tempestuous climax. The cluster of notes that makes up this ?mist? is formed from the octatonic scale in each case incorporating notes of the triad of the relative section to determine its tonality (B flat major C major etc).Each section therefore uses only the notes of the octatonic scale1 associated with it - until the Viola begins to incorporate a chromatic scale2 - and it is only in the final section that the familiar diatonic scale 3 appears and the mist is dissipated. Therefore although the overall feeling of

Easy music for string groups. Playstrings provides an enjoyable and varied repertoire for young string orchestras carefully structured in two levels. The ‘Easy’ level does not normally exceed Grade 2 in difficulty with most partsplayable in first position while the ‘Moderately Easy’ level includes some parts of around Grade 3 standard. At easy level alternative parts are provided so that the absence of viola or a double bass does not prevent the piecefrom being performed. Available in score or sets of instrumental parts. There are over 30 titles covering a wide range of styles including classical pieces folk tunes and Christmas collections. Playstrings is an idealintroduction to orchestral playing for young string players. Set of 21 parts contains: 4 x Violin 1 4 x Violin 2 4 x Violin 3 2 x Viola 1 2 x Viola 2 2 x Cello 1 2 x Cello 2 1 x Double Bass.

Prelude And Fugue For Fun (Hedges)-Easy music for string groups. Playstrings provides an enjoyable and varied repertoire for young string orchestras carefully structured in two levels. The ‘Easy’ level does not normally exceed Grade 2 in difficulty with most partsplayable in first position while the ‘Moderately Easy’ level includes some parts of around Grade 3 standard. At easy level alternative parts are provided so that the absence of viola or a double bass does not prevent the piecefrom being performed. Available in score or sets of instrumental parts. There are over 30 titles covering a wide range of styles including classical pieces folk tunes and Christmas collections. Playstrings is an idealintroduction to orchestral playing for young string players. Set of 19 parts contains: 4 x Violin 1 4 x Violin 2 4 x Violin 3 2 x Viola 3 x Cello 2 x Double Bass/Cello 2.

Pastorale (from Babettes Gæstebud / Babettes Feast) - Version for String Orchestra (the original version from 1997 is for string trio). Parts are for hire: hire@ewh.dk Preface / Programme Note My PASTORALE is melodically utterly simple almost 'ear-catching'. The simplicity stems frommy hymn-tune JERUSALEM the theme of which permeates my incidental music for Oscar winning film (Best Foreign Film.1987) BABETTE' S FEAST by Danish director Gabriel Axel. The film is based on a short story by another reknown Dane Karen Blixen; it is the story of two sisters who are members of a very Puritancongregation but deceide to have a big feast of earthly (gastronomic) delights; the PASTORALE is heard during the sumptuous meal. Below the song-like surface of my PASTORALE the metrical implications arerather ambiguous; the changes between marked and un-marked beats forces the ear to perceive a phrase to beo nthe beat at one moment and off the beat at the next moment. In this way the simple lines of lyrical pastoral serenity conjure the listener to be lulled into an artificial Paradise which is exactly the mood ofthe guests at the banquet the feast in the central scene ofthe movie. The original PASTORALE is scored for string trio; the present version for string orchestra came along in 1988 and was premiered in New York City that year. (Per Nørgård 1999)

The Lamb one of composer John Tavener’s most beloved frequently-performed and often-recorded works was composed in a single afternoon in 1982 as a gift for the composer’s three-year-old nephew.While the original was an unaccompanied Choral piece that set William Blake’s poem The Lamb this adaptation is an extremely effective and moving work for String Orchestra. The arrangement may be performed aloneor in accompaniment to a Chorus. John Tavener was that rare creature a composer of serious music and serious religious music who also achieved commercial success. He burst into the popular consciousness with theperformance of his Song for Athene at the funeral of Princess Diana but had been a highly respected and frequently-performed composer since the premiere of his dramatic cantata The Whale in 1968. The Lamb hasappeared on nearly forty different recordings.

I Give You The End Of A Golden String was commissioned in 2013 by the Royal Philharmonic Society/Britten-Pears Foundation to celebrate the centenary of the birth of Benjamin Brittenand the bicentenary of thefoundation of the Royal Philharmonic Society.The piece was first performed on 8th June 2013 by the Britten Sinfonia conducted by Ryan Wigglesworth.'My aim when I began this piece was to create a long length ofstring music out of a single strand of melody.While experimenting at the beginning shaping and extending a melody in many possible directions I cameacross William Blake???s lines???I give you the end of a goldenstring;Only wind it into a ball It will lead you in at Heaven???s gate Built in Jerusalem???s wall???and this became my working method winding a single tune around itself so that it gradually formed itselfinto amuch richer more complex texture. The process happens three times producing the equivalent of acontinuous three-movement concerto.The ???first movement??? is engendered by two solo violas (the melody at the beginning alreadyentwined witha slightly alternative version of itself). The ???slow movement??? (a more extended more decorated developmentof the opening tune) is introduced by a solo cello (soon winding itself into a quartet of celli). The fast???finale??? led by two solo violins focuses on decorations within the melody rolling out ribbons of (Britten-like') thirds.' - Judith WeirSuggested minimum strings: 8.6.4.4.2 players

Version with Piano and String Orchestra - Score)-A song cycle for baritone voice string orchestra and piano. The composer writes: 'Naarasäiti (The Lustful Mother) is about becoming a mother an experience in which sexuality combines in a natural way with the birth of a new life. The texts of the cycle are from the collections of poems Äitejä tyttäriä (Árbeeadni The Time of the Lustful Mother 2013) and Kylmä kumppani (Galbma rádna My Cold Companion 1999) by two contemporary Sámi poets Rauni Magga Lukkari and Rose-Marie Huuva. The poems’ primitive matriarchal beat is present throughout in the music: a dark earthy solo viola accompanies the baritone while the sizzling sparkling strings erupt at times in powerfultextures' A song cycle for baritone voice string orchestra and piano. The composer writes: 'Naarasäiti (The Lustful Mother) is about becoming a mother an experience in which sexuality combines in a natural way with the birth of a new life. The texts of the cycle are from the collections of poems Äitejä tyttäriä (Árbeeadni The Time of the Lustful Mother 2013) and Kylmä kumppani (Galbma rádna My Cold Companion 1999) by two contemporary Sámi poets Rauni Magga Lukkari and Rose-Marie Huuva. The poems’ primitive matriarchal beat is present throughout in the music: a dark earthy solo viola accompanies the baritone while the sizzling sparkling strings erupt at times in powerfultextures'

POD-Up And Away (2017) for String Orchestra by Henrik Hellstenius. Commissioned by The Barrat Due Institute of Music in Oslo. Parts are available on hire: hire@ewh.dk

Avec cette série animée, la musique hongroise-enseignant et élève de Kodaly créent une pièce très en-s-tructive. Etant donné que toutes les parties ont des tâches d'indépendance aux-ent mélodique et sont très souvent opposés les uns aux autres, seul ou en couple, la suite est particulièrement adaptée pour le travail avec les parties de la chaîne individuels et pour la formation de l'ensemble jouer. Les mouvements : Wettlauf - Der kleine Trotzkopf - Bär und Mäuschen - Abendlied - Soldatenspiel - Thema mit variations / Orchestre A Cordes

From “The Prince of Egypt” (the Dreamworks animated film of the life of Moses) the majestic and inspirational opening melody gradually builds in intensity and grandeur leading to a simple and lyrical Hebrew prayerthat unfolds into a great choral outpouring of emotion at the final breathtaking chorus. May be performed with piano alone with CD accompaniment or with the full instrumental orchestration – a truly unforgettable concertmoment!

The Study score of Henryk Gorecki's Three Pieces In Old Style for String Orchestra.

The Great Western is as title suggests, an evocation of trains. It is another fun piece, with much emphasis on triplets and chromatics: Music Teacher Magazine / Ensemble A Cordes