This is the first of a four-volume set of pieces by women composers, past and present. The beginning volume is comprised of pieces corresponding to grade levels 1 and 2 in the ASTA String Syllabus, and features works that have been out-of-print or are newly composed. The intent of the anthology is to provide music written by women for violinists of all skill levels, contributing a collection of fun, pedagogically-sound recital pieces to the available teaching literature. The first volume contains pieces by Josephine Trott, Edith L. Winn, Gail Ridgway Brown and other violinist-teachers of her generation, as well as a commissioned suite by a young composer.
Price includes both violin and piano parts.
Scroll down for sample sound files below. For more, and lots of other information, go to www.violinmusicbywomen.com!
This volume corresponds to the ASTA String Syllabus grade 3, and contains pieces that use first, second and third positions (with occasional forays up to the half-string harmonic). Included are a variety of styles to develop vibrato as well as fast fingers. Upbow staccato, spiccato, chords, and artificial harmonics are included—students can stretch their technical muscles! Composers include Gail Ridgway Brown, Ethel Harraden Glover, Julia Klumpkey, Florence Morey, Mary O’Hara, Irma Seydel, and Grace White.
Price includes both violin and piano parts.
Scroll down for sample sound files below. For more, and lots of other information, go to www.violinmusicbywomen.com!
The music in this volume grows in musical and technical demands as your students grow with it! Using first through fifth positions (with the last piece pushing the envelope into sixth), works range from a Classical period sonata movement to a previously unpublished contemporary composition by Marga Richter, and then on to a wild mambo by young New Zealand composer Claire Scholes. The works correspond in difficulty with grade 4 in the ASTA String Syllabus. Other composers included are Ethel Barns, Ann Mounsey Bartholomew, Gena Branscombe, Rosalind Ellicott, Julia Klumpkey and Josephine Trott.
Price includes both violin and piano parts.
Scroll down for sample sound files below. For more, and lots of other information, go to www.violinmusicbywomen.com!
Professionals and students with a high level of technical prowess and musical understanding will enjoy this collection! Explore jazz styles in two pieces (one commissioned from Libby Larsen for the anthology), 20th century compositional techniques in the “Tango” movement from Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s Partita, some virtuosic showpieces, and a stunning slow movement by Rebecca Clarke from her student days, unpublished before now. Other composers include Ethel Barns, Audrey Call, Amanda Maier, Helen Ware, and Lauren Wells. This final volume corresponds with grades 5 and 6 of the ASTA String Syllabus.
Price includes both violin and piano parts.
Scroll down for sample sound files below. For more, and lots of other information, go to www.violinmusicbywomen.com!
Composed by a Belgian contemporary of Mozart, these duets sparkle in Classical period style. The duets in this set are from an 1785 publication. Both parts get to assume the spotlight, though the first violin goes higher (1st-5th position). There is lots of brilliant passagework, and the music is interesting enough for advanced students and professionals. Gorgeous slow movements! The publication includes a score and separate parts for each violinist. Parts are edited by Cora Cooper.
This series seeks to provide an alternative to the much-abused works of Mozart as played by developing string quartets. Pieces are technically more forthright, requiring less finesse while still offering an opportunity to learn characteristic phrasing and elements of bow control needed in Classical-period music. The Stamitz is fun to play and a crowd pleaser, with outer movements marked by driving rhythms and sharing of the melodic material. While the first violin uses third position, the other string parts are primarily in first position. A refreshing change for contest!
Videos below!
This series seeks to provide an alternative to the much-abused works of Mozart as played by developing string quartets. Pieces are technically more forthright, requiring less finesse while still offering an opportunity to learn characteristic phrasing and elements of bow control needed in Classical-period music. The Weiss is a two-movement quartet, typical of many Classical period pieces. It can also be played as a flute quartet (flute plus string trio). As such, the second violin part actually requires as much or more skill than the first violin. The first movement passes themes around the quartet in contrapuntal entrances, so everyone gets part of the action. The second movement is an Andantino in which, again, everyone shares the spotlight. This is a charming and attractive quartet!
Videos of the two movements below.
This series seeks to provide an alternative to the much-abused works of Mozart as played by developing string quartets. Pieces are technically more forthright, requiring less finesse while still offering an opportunity to learn characteristic phrasing and elements of bow control needed in Classical-period music. J. C. Bach was the youngest son of J. S. Bach, and wrote in a lyrical and galant style. This two-movement quartet is typical of many Classical period pieces. It can also be played as a flute quartet (flute plus string trio). As such, the second violin part actually requires as much or more skill than the first violin. The first movement features the viola in the tune as much as the 1st violin. The second movement is a Theme and Variations with a variation spotlighting each member of the ensemble (tricky 2nd violin solo!) This is an elegant and unusual quartet.
Videos of the quartet's two movements below.
Ms. Trott was a popular and influential violin teacher and composer during the early twentieth century. These fun, first-position duets were composed by Trott as part of her out-of-print book Melodious Foundation Studies. The duets progress in difficulty. Each duet is paired with selected technical material from the same book, adapted and edited by Cora Cooper to create “etudes” relating to each duet. Some more sophisticated techniques addressed in these works are syncopation, up- and down-bow staccato, harmonics, fourth-finger extensions, double stops, left-hand pizzicato, and ornaments.