Piano,Viola - Level 3 - Digital Download SKU: A0.522292 Composed by G F Handel. Arranged by Colin Kirkpatrick. Easter,Holiday,Wedding. Score and part. 6 pages. Colin Kirkpatrick Publications #6637577. Published by Colin Kirkpatrick Publications (A0.522292). This piece is probably Handel’s best-known melody, although it began life as an operatic aria. The opera was called Xerxes, sometimes written Serses and pronounced something like “ZERT-seesâ€�. It was commissioned by The King’s Theater in London and composed by Handel (who had become naturalized British and lived in London at the time) around 1737 and 1738. The opera is loosely based on the historical figure King Xerxes, who ruled from around 522-486 BC and was the fourth king of the Achaemenid Empire, a vast region that covered most of the present-day Middle East.   The melody is often known simply as Handel’s Largo (despite being marked “Larghettoâ€� in the musical score) and is the opening aria in the opera. The aria, known by its opening line Ombra mai fu is sung by Xerxes to a plane tree: “Tender and beautiful fronds of my beloved plane tree, let fate smile upon you...â€� Although this lovely melody has survived over the years, the opera itself was a complete failure when it was first performed in London in 1738. This arrangement is in G major and the top note is the G above the alto clef (G5) and the piece generally requires the use of long and sustained bowing (indicted in the score), though the viola fingering has been omitted. The piano part has been kept as simple as possible. Being so well-known, this piece would make a popular encore number for a viola recital.

Piano,Viola - Level 2 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1510806 Composed by Camille Saint-Saens. Arranged by Steven Nunes. 19th Century,Romantic Period. Score and part. 8 pages. Nagamon Publications #1086011. Published by Nagamon Publications (A0.1510806). Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns  (9 October 1835 – 16 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic era.  Saint-Saëns was a musical prodigy; he made his concert debut at the age of ten. After studying at the Paris Conservatoire he followed a conventional career as a church organist, first at Saint-Merri, Paris and, from 1858, La Madeleine, the official church of the French Empire. After leaving the post twenty years later, he was a successful freelance pianist and composer, in demand in Europe and the Americas.This delightful short work works well as a lyrical exercise, as well as being able to fit into any recital situation.