ISBN 9780825860997. 8.5 x 11 inches. Key: G major.
A tour-de-force addition to the repertoire for the advancing ensemble by composer Alan Lee Silva. Sweeping melodlies, pulsating rhythms and fresh harmonic language make this a one of a kind piece. Your students will want to practice this challenge piece again and again.
Written in three sections (fast, slow, fast) in G major, this exciting Americana-themed piece will interest young players with active, engaging melodies and fun, rhythmic patterns. The fast sections are played with an edge-of-your-seat aggressiveness and precision. From the start, all sections play energetically, creating a driving bounce to set up the hoedown-flavored Violin I melody at m.9. Viola and cello take over the melody at m. 25, accompanied by syncopated, rhythmic figures in the violin and bass. A brief sustained section at m. 33 provides a short respite before returning to the lively main melody carried by the violins. The slow section, beginning at m. 54, features a lyrical melody in Violin I over lush chord voicings in the lower strings. Cello joins in with the melody at m. 62. A tonal shift to E major at m.70 begins a gradual build with a slightly faster tempo. Question and answer motifs highlight this section. Returning to G major in m. 79, the high point of the slow section is played with flowing grandeur. The transition to the recapitulation at m. 85 features an accelerando and attractive tutti figures at m. 87, preparing the return to the previous aggressive playing style. A legato treatment of the main melody in the upper strings at m. 93 gives an expansive feeling while supported by an ascending half-note scalar melody in the lower strings. Measure 97 marks the return to the original phrasing of the fast melody and is played more fervently. The accented, syncopated ensemble phrase at m. 109, strongly played, sets up the final unison exclamation in the last measure.
