The composer writes:Pilgrim was inspired it will be no surprise to learn by reading Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress - Vaughan Williams's great opera on the subject had fascinated me from its first performance yet it was a long time before I caught up with this essential item in any well-stocked library of English classics. It made a great impression not least because of its theme of a journey of self-discovery and a rediscovery or renewal of faith. These are ideas which have a strong interest for me not in religious terms but in their application to every aspect of human life (including great journeys) and this piece reflects my response in musical terms to this concern. The tempo of the whole piece which lasts about 18 minutes is basically slow. There are two quick episodes but these act somewhat like the trio sections of a classical scherzo save that the tempo relationships are inverted (the classical trios would have been slower not quicker) and the canvas is much larger being that of a single substantial slow movement. The form of the whole is perhaps fantasia-like rather than having any relationship to classical forms such as sonata or rondo - some motifs and themes are varied as the work develops and the opening chords are of primary importance throughout the work. There has been no attempt to convey any pictorial elements deriving from Bunyan's great book. There is however one feature which upon completion of the score struck me with some force which is that almost all the thematic material is essentially striving upwards - there is a constant upward movement (sometimes over a lengthy period) throughout the work. Pilgrim was commissioned by the Luton Music Club for the Raphael Ensemble with funds provided by the Eastern Arts Board and Bedfordshire County Council and is dedicated to the Luton Music Club. The first performance was given in Luton on February 10th 1997 and followed as part of a joint scheme by performances in the same week at the Music Clubs of Bedford and Leighton Buzzard.

The Oscar-nominated song from Disneys mega-hit film is carefully crafted here for younger players with minimal syncopation and solid tutti scoring for confident performances. Your students will be thrilled to play this worldwide pop hit.

Concerto for String Orchestra - the magnum opus of Grayna Bacewicz (1909-1969) the outstanding composer and violinist - was composed in 1948 and at once became one of the most frequently performed works of this Polish artist. This masterpieceof neoclassicism fascinates as much by its invention and virtuosic briliance as its harmonious combination of formal elements of a traditional nature with new tonal ideas. The form of the three-movement Concerto oscillates between that of the baroqueconcerto grosso and the early classical sonata cycle. The neoclassical tendency is evident above all in the articulation of the musical structure in keeping with the rigours of periodicity and the manner of developing thematic threads derived fromthem while the concertato character of particular movements and the generally linear texture indicate baroque connections. The first movement (Allegro) - in the form of an early classical sonata allegro - begins with a subject with energeticfigurations emblematic for the whole piece and based on a constant pendulum-like semiquaver movement anchored securely on D. It is precisely because of the nature of this subject that Bacewiczs work has been compared to the Brandenburg Concertosby Jan Sebastian Bach The second movement (Andante) while retaining its concertato charakter is at the same time an example of the composers ability to create emotionally serene lyrical moods and her sense of cantilena derived from the spiritof romantic song (a motto-subject presented at the beginning by cello solo). In this movement it is both the process of evolution and the instrumental colouring which constitute the constructional agents forming here a self-containedvalue. In thethird movement (Vivo) the composer returns to her favourite type of music understood as an expression of pure motion in the form of figural motives with infinite transformational possibilities. The spontaneity of the music the constant mutabilityof the tonal situations and the sophisticated acerbic harmonies - as Witold Lutosawski described them - form a colourful mosaic built in the structural skeleton of a sonata rondo. Concerto for String Orchestra is not only proof of thestylizing tendency of the composer but also of an unerring intuition concerning the technical and expressive possibilities inherent in a string instruments ensemble. [Magorzata Gsiorowska translated by Ewa Cholewka]

Par GREENWOOD JONNY. Jonny Greenwood, multi-instrumentalist of  rock band Radiohead, was nominated for the BBC British Composer Awards, for Popcorn Superhet Receiver in 2006.  Inspired by radio static and the extended, dissonant chords of Polish Composer Penderecki's Threnody for the victims of Hiroshima, the peiece was also used in Paul Thomas Anderson’s movie There Will Be Blood.   / Instrumental Music / Répertoire / Orchestre à Cordes

Impro an exciting new introduction to improvisation in string playing is suited to absolute beginners as well as more advanced players. It can be combined with regular teaching methods or used as a source of relaxation and fun in lessons and all the material is interchangeable between violin viola cello and double bass. The skills of free improvisation are built up in stages using basic ideas and progressing to more complex patterns. There are guidelines all the way plus duets with improvisation for teacher and pupil - and any other string players wishing to enjoy this lively and original style of music-making! A teacher working in Holland Sarah Stiles leadsworkshops in her method of Free Improvisation and is also the composer of the unique Dual Band nine violin duos with improvisation.

Par GAYE MARVIN / LONGFIELD ROBERT (Arr.). Though initially written over 50 years ago, Marvin Gaye's plea for peace and understanding is a message that still resonates strongly and needs to be heard. This arrangement for string orchestra by Robert Longfield maintains the original's easy cool and RandB rhythms in a format that allows modern-day students to find a way to bring some loving here today. / Date parution : 2022-11-29/ Répertoire / Ensemble de Cordes

Paperback-Vaughan Williams fist encountered the old English folk song Dives and Lazarus when he was 21 and here presents five variants that are in his own words 'not exact replicas of traditional tunes but rather reminiscences of various versions in my own collection and those of others'.The work was premiered in Carnegie Hall as part of the 1939 New York World's Fair and is a wonderful example of the sumptuous string textures and modal tonalities that have become the composer's trademarks.

Paperback-Vaughan Williams fist encountered the old English folk song Dives and Lazarus when he was 21 and here presents five variants that are in his own words 'not exact replicas of traditional tunes but rather reminiscences of various versions in my own collection and those of others'.The work was premiered in Carnegie Hall as part of the 1939 New York World's Fair and is a wonderful example of the sumptuous string textures and modal tonalities that have become the composer's trademarks.

Paperback-Vaughan Williams fist encountered the old English folk song Dives and Lazarus when he was 21 and here presents five variants that are in his own words 'not exact replicas of traditional tunes but rather reminiscences of various versions in my own collection and those of others'.The work was premiered in Carnegie Hall as part of the 1939 New York World's Fair and is a wonderful example of the sumptuous string textures and modal tonalities that have become the composer's trademarks.

Paperback-Vaughan Williams fist encountered the old English folk song Dives and Lazarus when he was 21 and here presents five variants that are in his own words 'not exact replicas of traditional tunes but rather reminiscences of various versions in my own collection and those of others'.The work was premiered in Carnegie Hall as part of the 1939 New York World's Fair and is a wonderful example of the sumptuous string textures and modal tonalities that have become the composer's trademarks.

Heres a delightful movement based on a theme from French composer Saint-Saëns originally written for violin and orchestra. Featuring the familiar “habañera” rhythm throughout Roberts superb newarrangement brings thisstandard of the violin repertoire to the concert stage for string orchestras.

Arranged in a solid ensemble version for strings here is an accessible setting of the memorable main theme as heard in the movie phenomenon Twilight. Your students will love to perform Carter Burwell's simple elegant tune thatis a key part of the film's storyline. (Grade 2)