(let me know if soundfiles don't work OR of omissions in info OR errors)

STRINGS & BAND TOGETHER

We will have two combined pieces:

Selections from "Phantom of the Opera"
(music and soundfile links will be available in January)

BePeace-Practice

STRING ENSEMBLE

LISTEN A LOT to these soundfiles and any other recordings you can find.
The more you listen, the better you will understand the flow of the music and the faster you will learn to play the piece! That said, please do not try to learn the music by listening - it is never accurate enough.

Oliver & Kett have chosen 4 terrific classics for you.

Beethoven, Allegretto from Symphony #7  arr. Robert Longfield. The link will take you to the J.W.Pepper site where you can watch the score and listen to our arrangment. (Click on the camera icon under "Preview My Library")

Here is a performance of the whole 2nd movement of Symphony #7, with Leonard Bernstein conducting the Weiner Philharmonic. Oliver was right - this is wonderful!

Cordoba by Isaac Albeniz/arr. Bob Lipton. The link will take you to the J.W.Pepper site where you can watch the score and listen to our arrangment. (Click on the icon of a piece of paper under "Preview")

This piece was originally written for piano, but often played on guitar; here is a YouTube performance of Cordoba by one of the greatest all-time classical guitarists, Julian Bream. Be aware that it has a very long introduction - much longer than our arrangement.

Send in the Clowns (from "A Little Night Music") by Stephen Sondheim/arr. Robert Longfield. The link will take you to a YouTube page where you can watch the score and listen to our arrangment.

As Kett told you, Send in the Clowns was written specifcally for Glynis Johns. This link will take you to YouTube for a performance with Glynis Johns singing Send in the Clowns.

One Hand, One Heart from West Side Story, music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, arranged by Robert Longfield. The link will take you to the J.W.Pepper site where you can watch the score and listen to our arrangment. (Click on the icon of a piece of paper under "Preview")

This clip from the movie is of the scene where Tony & Maria are imagining getting married, repeating the vows and singing "One Hand, One Heart", although their families forbid the marriage.  (West Side Story is the Romeo & Juliet story placed in West Side, NYC in the late 1950s)

BAND

LISTEN A LOT to these soundfiles and any other recordings you can find.
The more you listen, the better you will understand the flow of the music and the faster you will learn to play the piece! That said, please do not try to learn the music by listening - it is never accurate enough.

Farandole, from the incidental music, written by Georges Bizet, for Alphonse Daudet's play, “L’Arlesienne”, arranged by Robert Longfield. Here is a link to our arrangement with a moderate tempo!!  To see the score and listen to the recording, follow this link to the J.W.Pepper website, then click on the little icon that looks like a piece of paper, to the right of the little speaker (it is under the word, “Preview”)

Our arrangement is true to the original, so you can listen to an orchestral performance and follow the whole thing in your own music. Here is a YouTube performance of Farandole, played by Deutsch-Niederländische KammerPhilharmonie; the Allegro vivo e deciso is about MM=170.  We will aim for around MM = 130, but start out more like MM = 100 or 110 and work up to a faster tempo.

Choral Prelude, BWV 727 (“Herzlich tut mich verlangen”), by Johann Sebastian Bach, arranged by French composer Olivier Costa. The link will take you to a YouTube performance of the original organ prelude, played by Gilberto Guarino. Watch your music as he plays and see if you can hear your lines in the organ part.

Linden Lea, a classic English song written by Ralph Vaughan Williams, arr. by John W. Stout. There are several links to performances here. The link above will take you to the band version we are playing, in a performance by the Tacoma Concert Band.

Here are two choral versions: Choral version by the NUSChoir, based in Singapore And, one by the Choir of the New College, Oxford (UK)

Kvetchers (Surprises in Controversial Time), by Laura Estes. Click on the link to watch the score and listen to the music. See if you can hear the humor in the unexpected odd harmonies and rhythms.

HINTS FOR EFFECTIVE USE OF SOUNDFILES IN YOUR PRACTICE

There are several really good reasons for listening to the soundfiles of music you are playing:

1. *To get a sense of how the music sounds, its style, its phrasing, its harmonies (Most important reason!)
2. Following your music while listening to the soundfile (not playing) helps you learn how your part fits with the whole and helps you learn to keep your place
3. Playing along with the music gives you more opportunities to "practice with the group" than you can get just in rehearsals. You will not be able to determine when to play the very first beat, so come in on the next measure.
4. If it goes by too quickly, see the next bullet
5. Purchase the software, Amazing Slow Downer (from http://ronimusic.com/) and you can practice with the soundfile slowed down to where you can play along. (Soundfiles must be on the same device where the Slow Downer resides; you can not use YouTube or soundfiles that are streamed from the web). For those of you cautious about what you download, this software site is safe according to Norton)
6. You can also slow down YouTube by clicking the gear and adjusting the percentage. You don't have the minute control of the speed, but it is better than nothing!

If you are new to working with soundfiles, DO NOT try to play along right away. Your first task is to listen several times while just following along in your own music (not playing), perhaps even using your finger to keep your place in the music. See if you can stay with the music, whether or not you can hear your own part (sometimes it doesn't sound like your instrument because you are playing the same thing as some other instrument and your part adds to the overall, but isn't itself distinguishable). Watch for things like holds or sudden loud spots or a change from legato to staccato to see if you can hear those as you listen. Until you can reliably follow along & keep your place in your music while listening and looking at your part, you will never be able to successfully play along. Be sure to do the listening first or it is just frustrating! Once you get good at that, try listening and speaking your rhythms. Once you can do that, then try playing with it, although you may find that it is too fast for you to keep up. (See bullet #5 above)