SKU: A0.750792

This piece of music is dedicated to the memory of Vic Sykes (1929-2018) - who was Principal Horn player for my local orchestra - The Frankston Symphony Orchestra - for over 50 years!

It is an arrangement of the hymn tune St. Clement - The Day Thou Gavest Lord Is Ended - or Evening Hymn. It features, of course, the French Horn - a Horn Quartet in fact, with orchestral accompaniment. Very appropriate for ANZAC day or Remembrance Day...

St Clement, in 98. 98. meter is a popular British tune to John Ellerton's hymn The Day Thou Gavest, Lord, is Ended. The tune is generally credited to the Rev. Clement Cotterill Scholefield (1839–1904). It first appeared in Sir Arthur Sullivan's Church Hymns with Tunes (1874). Scholefield was born at Edgbaston, Birmingham, and was the youngest son of William Scholefield, MP for Birmingham. [Wikipedia]

Grade = 3.5 Duration = 3:05 mins.

The MP3 recording was done with NotePerformer 3.

SKU: A0.1132365

An arrangement for Double Bass (Solo Strings) and Chamber Orchestra. Solo strings project above an orchestra much better than orchestral. The solo part is in the original key to allow for the strings.

SKU: A0.922639

Original by Johann Strauss II
Reduction to String Orchestra by Aaron Meier

Part: Double Bass

True to the original work by Strauss, this reduction for string orchestra features the ornaments and mystical writing that defines Strauss' polkas. There are optional percussion parts to be added at the discretion of the ensemble, however even without percussion the ensemble will sound full (the percussion acts as an ornament).

Difficulty: Intermediate-advanced - advanced (best-suited for advanced student ensembles)
---

Performance Notes:

• Approximate length: 3:30 minutes
• 1st Violins: In m. 1, trill a half step from a Dâ™­ to a Dâ™® 
• 2nd Violins:
 - At m. 42, divide players by 3, with 2 players playing line A and the remaining player playing line B
 - At m. 72-75, emphasize the E♭ in the div.
• Snare Drum: The buzz roll needs to be quieter than how it is played in the midi recording (*see YouTube link ↓)

History:

The Olga-Polka itself owed its creation to a Russian royal wedding which took place in St. Petersburg on 28 August 1857. On that day, amid accompanying splendour, the music-loving Grand Duke Michail Nikolaievich (1832-1909), youngest brother of Tsar Alexander II, married Princess Caecilie of Baden (1839-91), daughter of Archduke Leopold of Baden. Johann Strauss, who at that time was giving a summer season of concerts in nearby Pavlovsk, used the opportunity occasioned by the event to enhance his already enviable popularity with the Russian royal family and composed the Caecilien-Polka in honour of the lovely young bride. Indeed, it is clear from a letter which Johann wrote in late July 1857 to Carl Haslinger, his publisher in Vienna, that the new polka had been prepared well in advance of the wedding (the fair copy of the full orchestral score made for the publisher's engraver is dated 9 August) and was enjoying success even before the royal couple's official engagement on 16August 1857. Sometime after performing the Caecilien-Polka in Pavlovsk, Johann despatched the work to the Austrian capital where his brother Josef conducted its Viennese première, together with that of Johann's waltz Telegraphische Depeschen (op. 195, Volume 28), at his own benefit concert in the Volksgartenon Sunday 18 October 1857. The Wiener Allgemeine Theaterzeitung (16.10.1857) remarked that both works have caused a sensation in St. Petersburg and are truly genial Viennese sounds full of verve and melody.

Since tradition demanded that the German Princess Caecilie adopt a Russian name - Olga Feodorovna - before her marriage, so Johann's Caecilien-Polka also underwent a change of identity. On 8 December 1857 Carl Haslinger announced the publication of Strauss's Olga-Polka, on the title page of which is the inscription: Dedicated to her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Olga, née Princess of Baden. It was under this title, too, that Johann himself first conducted the work in Vienna at a concert in the Volksgarten on 1 November 1857, shortly after his return from Russia. Reporting on this event, the Wiener Allgemeine Theaterzeitung (3.11.1857) observed: The 'Olga-Polka' is a most delightful, fragrant musical bouquet, full of fine, gracious rhythms.
[excerpted from NAXOS Records]
Kemp, Peter. Program Notes - About this Recording. NAXOS, 1993, www.naxos.com/mainsite/blurbs_reviews.asp?item_code=8.223232&catNum=223232&filetype=About%20.......... Accessed 5 June 2020.

Resources:

• Visit.

SKU: A0.922638

Original by Johann Strauss II
Reduction to String Orchestra by Aaron Meier

Part: Viola

True to the original work by Strauss, this reduction for string orchestra features the ornaments and mystical writing that defines Strauss' polkas. There are optional percussion parts to be added at the discretion of the ensemble, however even without percussion the ensemble will sound full (the percussion acts as an ornament).

Difficulty: Intermediate-advanced - advanced (best-suited for advanced student ensembles)
---

Performance Notes:

• Approximate length: 3:30 minutes
• 1st Violins: In m. 1, trill a half step from a Dâ™­ to a Dâ™® 
• 2nd Violins:
 - At m. 42, divide players by 3, with 2 players playing line A and the remaining player playing line B
 - At m. 72-75, emphasize the E♭ in the div.
• Snare Drum: The buzz roll needs to be quieter than how it is played in the midi recording (*see YouTube link ↓)

History:

The Olga-Polka itself owed its creation to a Russian royal wedding which took place in St. Petersburg on 28 August 1857. On that day, amid accompanying splendour, the music-loving Grand Duke Michail Nikolaievich (1832-1909), youngest brother of Tsar Alexander II, married Princess Caecilie of Baden (1839-91), daughter of Archduke Leopold of Baden. Johann Strauss, who at that time was giving a summer season of concerts in nearby Pavlovsk, used the opportunity occasioned by the event to enhance his already enviable popularity with the Russian royal family and composed the Caecilien-Polka in honour of the lovely young bride. Indeed, it is clear from a letter which Johann wrote in late July 1857 to Carl Haslinger, his publisher in Vienna, that the new polka had been prepared well in advance of the wedding (the fair copy of the full orchestral score made for the publisher's engraver is dated 9 August) and was enjoying success even before the royal couple's official engagement on 16August 1857. Sometime after performing the Caecilien-Polka in Pavlovsk, Johann despatched the work to the Austrian capital where his brother Josef conducted its Viennese première, together with that of Johann's waltz Telegraphische Depeschen (op. 195, Volume 28), at his own benefit concert in the Volksgartenon Sunday 18 October 1857. The Wiener Allgemeine Theaterzeitung (16.10.1857) remarked that both works have caused a sensation in St. Petersburg and are truly genial Viennese sounds full of verve and melody.

Since tradition demanded that the German Princess Caecilie adopt a Russian name - Olga Feodorovna - before her marriage, so Johann's Caecilien-Polka also underwent a change of identity. On 8 December 1857 Carl Haslinger announced the publication of Strauss's Olga-Polka, on the title page of which is the inscription: Dedicated to her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Olga, née Princess of Baden. It was under this title, too, that Johann himself first conducted the work in Vienna at a concert in the Volksgarten on 1 November 1857, shortly after his return from Russia. Reporting on this event, the Wiener Allgemeine Theaterzeitung (3.11.1857) observed: The 'Olga-Polka' is a most delightful, fragrant musical bouquet, full of fine, gracious rhythms.
[excerpted from NAXOS Records]
Kemp, Peter. Program Notes - About this Recording. NAXOS, 1993, www.naxos.com/mainsite/blurbs_reviews.asp?item_code=8.223232&catNum=223232&filetype=About%20.......... Accessed 5 June 2020.

Resources:

SKU: A0.766986

Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words is collection of short piano pieces.  I chose four of these that seemed orchestral In character, and arranged them for chamber orchestra (strings, piano, and seven winds).  While arranging is often an exercise in reducing music originally written for a large ensemble, the challenge here was to expand Mendelssohn's piano miniatures into music for a chamber orchestra that sounds as it were written specifically for that ensemble.  Level: advanced intermediate.  Duration: 8 minutes, 50 seconds.

SKU: A0.1380133

Goltermann's Adagio, Op. 83 for cello and orchestra is a poignant and expressive work that exemplifies the Romantic sensibilities of the 19th century. Composed in 1877, this single-movement piece showcases Goltermann's prowess in crafting emotive melodies and exploring the rich tonal palette of the cello within the context of orchestral accompaniment.

The Adagio is dedicated to à Madame Henriette Fritsch-Estrangin à Marseille

Here is an arrangement for cello and string orchestra.

The PDF file contains the score and all parts.

SKU: A0.1374119

Ukrainian Folk Song Suite for orchestra, Op. 56.
This is exactly the same music as my Fantaisie on Ukrainian Folk Songs for Soprano, choir and orchestra with the same opus number, but has been arranged as an orchestral suite only without any vocal parts.
© Copyright 2023 David Cundy.