Snow Suite

Description

Violin 1, Violin 2, Violin 3, Viola, Cello, Contrabass, Piano — Snow Suite is the soundtrack to childhood’s winter adventures. Tasting snowflakes, watching a snowstorm through the living room window, or falling in the soft snow is always exciting and sparks the imagination. Each movement of this suite paints a scene. In Snowflakes, the pizzicato notes depict flakes landing on a nose or finger long enough to be marveled at before melting away. Snowstorm’s perpetual motion feel, with dramatic changes in dynamics, draws the listener into imagining wild winter winds. Finally, after the storm, children and adults alike fall into the powdery snow creating charming and delightful Snow Angels.Performance NotesMost students are adept at pizzicato by the grade 1 orchestra level, and this piece provides the opportunity to review pizzicato technique for good tone. Recommended pizzicato technique includes the thick part of the fingertip over the fingerboard, producing tone with depth and allowing the resonance to create a rich orchestra sound. The detaché bowing is truly detached in Snowstorm with contrasting legato bow strokes in Snow Angels.For schools that encourage writing across the curriculum, teachers may encourage students to write a short imaginative story about the snow themes in this music. STEAM (Science Technology Engineering Arts, and Mathematics) lessons may include snowflake crystal structures and snowstorm weather patterns. This charming suite for beginning orchestra brings the magical joy of snowy scenes to life. In three short movements, players will experience the delicate lightness of "Snowflakes," an all-pizzicato melody; the fury of a "Snowstorm" set in easy E minor; and the graceful dance of "Snow Angels" in lilting 3/4 time. Supported by an optional piano accompaniment, young performers will develop confidence playing simple rhythms within the range of the D major scale, plus a few surprise notes on the G string. At just 3 minutes total, this winter concert feature is short and "suite"!

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