#ClassicsaDay #Strings Week 4
By Ralph Graves
There’s a middle ground between large orchestras and chamber groups. That space is occupied by string orchestras. They have the full sound of an orchestra, but the uniform blend of a string quartet. The #ClassicsaDay challenge for this month is to post examples of string orchestra works. No brass, winds, or percussion allowed!
This type of ensemble originated in the early 1800s. For my posts, I’ve tried to alternate between Romantic and Modern Era composers. Here are my posts for the fourth and final week of #Strings.
11/25/24 Libby Croad: Suite for String Orchestra
Croad is a composer and violinist living in London. She completed her string orchestra work in 2018. It was premiered on a Classic FM broadcast with the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra.
11/26/24 Samuel Barber: Adagio for Strings Op. 11
This work began as the slow movement to Barber’s string quartet. At Toscanini’s request, he made a string orchestra arrangement of the Adagio, which the conductor premiered in 1938.
11/27/24 Grazyna Bacewicz: Concerto for String Orchestra
Bacewicz completed this work in 1948, and considered it her “ninth symphony.” Witold Lutosławski wrote that it was the highlight of Bacewicz’s no-nonsense period.
11/28/24 Gerald Finzi: Prelude for String Orchestra in F minor, Op. 25
Finzi composed this piece in 1920. It was the opening movement to a symphony that he never completed.
11/29/24 Libby Larsen: String Symphony
The Minnesota Orchestra commissioned Larsen’s work in 1998. Larsen wrote that the work contemplates the role of strings in an orchestra and in culture.
Next Month:
