Viola Solo - Level 5 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1018938 Composed by Benjamin Harry Sajo. 20th Century,Contemporary. Individual part. 5 pages. Benjamin Sajo #6072979. Published by Benjamin Sajo (A0.1018938). Fugue: Wear Pearls and Smile is, on the outset, a fast, rambunctious adventure for many voices playing at the same time. It was conceived as a pairing for the equally vivacious second symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven–his 250th birthday is this year–but can stand on its own as one of my hardest, most challenging works to cook up.This piece is dedicated to those forced to appear positive when internally they’re falling apart. The title is inspired by a quote that’s been with me for a while, Why is it that men can be bastards and women must wear pearls and smile? by Lynn Hecht Schafren, the celebrated American jurist famous for campaigning for gender equity in courts. I’m taking the quote out of its initial context, but the power of that quote, for me, exemplifies how hard it is to maintain a sense of emotional decorum and dignity when you’re authentically a hot mess. And what’s more of a musical hot mess than a fugue?There are two realities to this piece. I’ll quote Dmitri Shostakovich, from his autobiography: The rejoicing is forced, created under threat, […] It’s as if someone were beating you with a stick and saying, ‘Your business is rejoicing, your business is rejoicing,’ and you rise, shaky, and go marching off, muttering ‘Our business is rejoicing, our business is rejoicing.’ On the one hand, it is insincere happiness, cloying perhaps. But the other truth, I’ll quote Oscar Hammerstein II, from The King and I: While shivering in my shoes / I strike a careless pose / And whistle a happy tune / And no one ever knows, / I'm afraid. I forced myself, against all impulses of my current being, to forge happiness. This piece, with its origin being a mental puzzle (fugues are puzzles), it became a construct where I could lift myself up and regain a sense of purpose. Therefore, it is invented–out of a literal need to survive–pure, genuine happiness.Future Performances: If you are interested in performing this work, please e-mail me.ABOUT THE COMPOSER: Benjamin Sajo (b. 1988) is a Canadian composer of contemporary classical music, as well as an educator. Since developing a fiercely independent creative voice upon the completion of his studies at Western (2010) and McGill Universities (2013), he continues to find inspiration from the intersection of mythology, art, and nature upon the contemporary human experience. In 2019, he released his premiere album of original music, The Great War Sextet: Canadian War Poetry with Trombone & Strings , with support from the Ontario Arts Council. He is a member of SOCAN and the League of Canadian Composers.

Viola Solo - Level 3 - Digital Download SKU: A0.784339 Composed by Joshua Hauser. Instructional. Individual part. 38 pages. Slide Ride #5288683. Published by Slide Ride (A0.784339). 1 Octave Scale Studies in 15+ keys for 4-part ensembles of like or mixed instruments If this is your first exposure to these scale studies, you are in for a treat! Donuts, if you make a mistake!The initial incarnation of these studies were written for trombone quartet and we would play them in the Tennessee Tech Trombone Choir with the challenge that whomever made the first mistake had to buy donuts for the rest of the ensemble. Since then I have brought that version to several clinics and warm up sessions. One time before I got to explain the title, a fellow trombone professor said, Oh, I get it! Don’t step in the holes!I only wish I had thought of that myself... Since we have one of the best donut shops in TN here in Cookeville, treating the studio to sugar coated goodies was always my intent.As with those initial exercises, you can vary these as much as you’d like.·     Choose a tempo.·     Choose a dynamic.·     Choose an articulation/style.One way I like to play these is to have one person be the model, playing the entire scale over and over while everyone else plays the fragmented versions. That helps everyone to keep on track and stay in time. Double or triple up the parts for ensemble cohesion with a larger group.Practice one key, gradually speeding it up to improve fluidity, or choose a variation and take it through all keys, playing version A, B, C, or D then skipping to play the same set in a new key.If you want an additional challenge, play them in different octaves or change the key. Play the F Major set in f minor (all forms), different modes, etc. Players really have to be on their toes to remember if they are playing melodic minor in the ascending or descending form! For jazz players, try swinging them in dorian or mixolydian modes.The variations are endless!If you are using these with transposing instruments, 1) is F Major in Concert Pitch, 2) is Bb Major in Concert pitch, and so on. When you reach a scale that is enharmonic for another key (Db/C#, Gb/F#, or Cb/B), they are presented in both keys for each instrument so Trumpets can play in Eb while the Flutes are playing in C# with similar examples for all keys.All Donut Etudes with the same volume number are compatible so you can play them in mixed quartets or large ensembles with one or more instruments/people on part 1 and a different instrument on part 2, etc. Since the quartets are all identical, conductors/coaches can use any of the scores to tell which part should be playing at what time. Once you have played a scale with one set of parts, everyone can rotate to a different part and play the same scales again!Enjoy!