SKU: A0.1413024

A string quartet arrangement of 'Spring Song', (Song Without Words, Op 62 No 6) by Felix Mendelssohn. Separate instrumental parts included in print out.

SKU: A0.1040877

I've Got Peace Like a River is an African-American spiritual based on PEACE LIKE A RIVER tune. Arranged by Fritz Stanley for string chamber ensemble. It is a song of declaration using water as a simile to describe the qualities of peace, joy, and love in three stanzas. The image of the first stanza, “peace like a river,� may have come from Isaiah 66:12, where a similar picture is used. This song is suitable for all ages, and can be easily learned. It may be sung as a song of response after a time of thanksgiving or a declaration of God’s goodness.

SKU: A0.732460

This famous Irish air, one of Moore's Melodies. is skillfully presented with excellent, accessible part-writing making it very suitable for middle grade instrumentalists. Tastefully harmonised it is enjoyable to play, easy to learn and ideal for a concert of Irish music.

SKU: A0.1404637

Such a wonderful quartet version of this hymn tune! Whilst the lower parts are fairly easy the 1st violin is more challenging, yet it is very suitable for students or amateurs. A great melody, with accessible rhythms and well-chosen harmonies, this is a most rewarding arrangement to perform. Ideal as a reflective interlude perhaps, at a church service, it is an excellent item to include in your sacred music repertoire. Accessible, impressive and highly recommended for your string quartet!

SKU: A0.773330

These six songs have become icons of remembrance of the six million Jews who died in the Holocaust. They are traditionally played on Holocaust Day, which is on the 28th day of the Hebrew month of Nissan in Israel, or January 27th in the rest of the world.

Unter Dyne Vyse Shteren (Under the Starry Sky) was written by Avraham Sutskover, a leading Yiddish poet, while trapped in the ghetto of Vilna, in July 1943. Days before the ghetto was destroyed and all the Jews murdered, Sutskover escaped to the forest with his wife. He reached Russia, and in 1947 moved to Palestine. He died in Israel in 2010 at the age of 96. The poem was set to music by Avraham Brodna, a simple laborer in the Vilna ghetto who died in a concentration camp.

Ani Maamin (I Believe): The words to this simple song are of the Jewish prayer I believe with perfect faith in the coming of the Messiah. The tune is attributed to Azriel David Festig, a leading Warsaw hazzan (cantor) who died in the Holocaust. The song was performed after the war by Rabbi Shaul Yedidia Eliezer Taub, the Admor (Rabbinical leader) of the Modzitz Hassidic sect, and has become the iconic song of the remembrance in the Hassidic community.

Shtiller Shtiller (Hush Hush) was written by Alexander Volkovitzky, then a 12-year-old boy, in the Vilna Ghetto in the spring of 1943. Volkovitzky, who wrote the melody for a song contest organized to encourage the cultural life of the ghetto, eventually came to Israel where he (under the name Alexander Tamir) became a leading pianist and music educator. The words are by Shmerke Kacserginsky, a leading poet of Vilna, who later escaped the Holocaust and migrated to South America.

Papirossen (Cigarettes) actually predates the Holocaust by 15 years. It was written by Yiddish actor and composer Herman Yablokoff in 1922 in Grodno, Poland. Yablokoff later immigrated to America, where he produced a musical Papirossen that incorporated the song. It was later made famous by the Barry Sisters, a Yiddish popular music group.

Donna Donna was written by Shalom Secunda, with words by Aaron Zeitlin for the Yiddish musical Esterke in 1940. Though the song originally related to the 600-year-old legend of a Polish king who married a Jewess, it quickly became associated with the Holocaust because of its haunting message. The song has entered the popular folk repertoire, with canonical renditions by Joan Baez, Theodore Bikel, and many others.

 Hatikva (the Hope) is Israel's national anthem. The words are by Naftali Zvi Imber, and the tune is a traditional eastern European tune.

 You are welcome to try some of my other arrangements. In addition to the songs offered on this site (you can see them at http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/search?Ntt=Yoel+Epstein ), I have arranged three songs from the Holocaust, which I arranged and distribute for free on IMSLP. You can find them at http://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Ravpapa. If you need arrangements of any of these songs for special combinations of instruments, feel free to contact me, and I will try to accommodate. Write me at yoelepst@gmail.com. Hope you enjoy.

SKU: A0.773332

This song has become an icon of remembrance of the six million Jews who died in the Holocaust. It is traditionally played on Holocaust Day, which is on the 28th day of the Hebrew month of Nissan in Israel, or January 27th in the rest of the world.

Unter Dyne Vyse Shteren (Under the Starry Sky) was written by Avraham Sutskover, a leading Yiddish poet, while trapped in the ghetto of Vilna, in July 1943. Days before the ghetto was destroyed and all the Jews murdered, Sutskover escaped to the forest with his wife. He reached Russia, and in 1947 moved to Palestine. He died in Israel in 2010 at the age of 96. The poem was set to music by Avraham Brodna, a simple laborer in the Vilna ghetto who died in a concentration camp.

This is one of four songs for Holocaust Remembrance Day that I have arranged for string quartet. The set of songs is available for download at https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/four-songs-of-the-holocaust-arranged-for-string-quartet-digital...

The other songs are

Shtiller Shtiller (Hush Hush) was written by Alexander Volkovitzky, then a 12-year-old boy, in the Vilna Ghetto in the spring of 1943.

Hatikva (the Hope) is Israel's national anthem. The words are by Naftali Zvi Imber, and the tune is a traditional eastern European tune.

You are welcome to try some of my other arrangements. In addition to the songs offered on this site (you can see them at http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/search?Ntt=Yoel+Epstein ), I have arranged three songs from the Holocaust, which I arranged and distribute for free on IMSLP. You can find them at http://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Ravpapa. If you need arrangements of any of these songs for special combinations of instruments, feel free to contact me, and I will try to accommodate. Write me at yoelepst@gmail.com.  Hope you enjoy.

SKU: A0.1489644

Deck the Halls is a traditional Christmas carol with a rich history and cultural significance:

Origin and Melody: The melody of Deck the Halls is derived from a Welsh tune called Nos Galan, which dates back to at least the 16th century. The carol's melody was initially associated with Welsh New Year's Eve celebrations.

Lyrics: The English lyrics were written by Scottish musician Thomas Oliphant in 1862. These lyrics were published alongside the original Welsh lyrics in a collection of Welsh melodies.

Cultural Context: Originally, Nos Galan was a competitive Welsh drinking song. Participants would take turns singing verses around a fire during New Year's Eve gatherings. The transition from a New Year's song to a Christmas carol occurred when the English lyrics were adapted to focus on Christmas themes.

Meaning and Usage: The phrase deck the halls means to decorate for Christmas, traditionally with boughs of holly and other festive adornments. The term deck in this context means to decorate or adorn, and it is derived from the Middle Dutch word dekken, meaning to cover.

Variations and Adaptations: Over time, the lyrics have been adapted in various ways, including changing the words to reflect different cultural or religious contexts, such as replacing Christmas with Yule or Yuletide.

Overall, Deck the Halls is a beloved carol that combines elements of Welsh tradition with Victorian-era English lyrics, celebrating the festive spirit of the holiday season.

SKU: A0.1334145

Here'a suite about life in the Isle of Man based on Manx folk tunes and religious music.  All the harmonies and some decorations are mine. There are 5 movements.

 

I MAINLY CELEBRATIONS:  I found all the melodies in The Mona Melodies, a group of traditional tunes (probably heard in Douglas) collected in 1820.  Hunt the Wren is a surprising, lively, traditional event on St Stephen's Day when villagers dance and sing round the town hoping for gifts. This tune is dorian.  A Lullaby in aeolian follows, then In Praise of Wine, in ionian, while at the same time fragments of the Lullaby are heard from inside a home.  The Wren group return.




II FAITH Religious music  I assume could have been heard in Manx churches.  Two supposedly Celtic-style antiphon melodies from a 13th-century breviary from Caen  (a) The Holy Cross (b)  The Saints.  I made them into parallel organum with a drone.  Between them is an elaborate ancient melody (labelled Martyrs) for Psalm 80 (Lord, come and save us), which I found with Gaelic words.  I accompany with 3 more parts.  The whole movement is in dorian mode.




III EMOTIONS:  Mourning for a Prince is a mixolydian tune also found in The Mona Melodies.  I give the tune to the viola.  In Praise of Beauty is sung by the cello in C major.  This tune is also found in The Mona Melodies, as Brown Oxen (Berry Dowin).  William Brown (Illiam Dhoan) (should be Dhone, I believe) is the air used for Love Lost and Found: again from The Mona Melodies.  I made it C minor at first (love lost) , then  the original version in F major (love found).




IV CAR JUAN NAN (Let's All Dance) is a reel, from which I took a few bars and made it into a round.  My source was the book Ed. Colin Jerry Kiaull yn Theay 1:  Manx music and songs for folk instruments




V WORK, REST and PLAY.  The Spinning Song is major/ionian, the Milking Song is major pentatonic, but my mooing bass part does not respect that: I found those tunes in  Kiaull yn Theay.   The Harvest Celebration Dance (Yn Mheillea) is from manxmusic.com.  The Goodnight Song (Arrane Oie Vie) was traditionally sung after a Christmas Eve event in the church, after more formal proceedings and after the singing of many gloomy vaguely religious songs there and a visit to the pub.  Collected from Mr E, Corteen and Mr T.  Taggart of Malew:  my source:  manxmusic.com.




DURATION: 15 minutes.

SKU: A0.1476092

My arrangement for String Quartet of the traditional patriotic song 'Scots, wha hae', with words by Robert Burns.

SKU: A0.1477375

My arrangement of the traditional Scots air 'Jock O'Hazeldean', with words by Sir Walter Scott.