Best Practices for Choosing Music for a String Orchestra

Selecting music for a string orchestra is a careful and intricate process that demands a keen understanding of the ensemble's abilities and the inherent qualities of a musical piece. A string orchestra director plays a pivotal role in this process, serving as the guiding force behind choosing music that not only challenges the musicians but also resonates with their technical skills and musical depth. Here’s an in-depth guide on how a string orchestra director can assess and determine if a piece is suitable for their orchestra. 

Understanding the Orchestra's Proficiency

Before delving into the selection process, it's crucial for a string orchestra director to thoroughly understand the orchestra's proficiency level. Assessing technical skills, musical comprehension, tonal quality, and overall musicality of the ensemble forms the bedrock for selecting suitable music. 

1. Technical Proficiency Assessment: Evaluate the technical abilities of the string players. Consider factors like intonation, bowing techniques, shifting, and overall mastery of their instruments. It’s also good to know if their proficiency is at a level where they can move up easily or if they will need more time. If they are ready to move up, you can choose music that will meet them at the new level.
2. Ensemble Balance and Tonal Quality: Understand the balance within the sections and individual players. Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of various sections to ensure the selected piece can highlight their abilities while providing appropriate challenges. Here again, monitoring where they are in relation to the next level of balance and tonal quality can help you choose more wisely.
3. Musical Complexity and Challenges: Analyze the orchestra's comfort with various musical complexities such as rhythms, key changes, dynamics, and articulation. This assessment helps in selecting music that offers growth opportunities without overwhelming the musicians.

 Evaluating the Orchestra Piece Once armed with an understanding of the ensemble's capabilities, the string orchestra director can meticulously examine a potential piece to ascertain its suitability. Several criteria can be considered: 

1. Instrumentation and String Writing: Review the instrumentation and string writing of the piece. Ensure it aligns with the available instruments within the orchestra. Verify that the piece provides opportunities for all sections to contribute meaningfully to the performance. If the piece is written for five parts (two violins, viola, cello and bass), and you have no bass players (or instruments), it may be that the cello part doubles the bass part. That would allow you to use that piece even if you have no basses. Other pieces have five distinct parts. If you have a few exceptional cellists, they may be able to play the bass parts.
2. Level of Difficulty: Assess the technical demands of the piece. Consider factors such as challenging passages, intricate rhythms, complex bowing techniques, and musical intricacies. Aim for a piece that provides appropriate challenges without being excessively demanding (Pygmalion Effect).
3. Musical Style and Theme: Consider the musical style and thematic elements of the piece. Ensure it resonates with the orchestra and allows them to connect emotionally, fostering a sincere and passionate performance.
4. Teaching Opportunities: Look for pieces that offer teaching moments. A piece that introduces new techniques, interpretation challenges, or musical concepts can be valuable in the orchestra's educational journey. Many of Salt Cellar Creations’ pieces have great teaching components. One piece called Jewels and Treasures borrows from Pachelbel’s Canon in D. Another piece called A Royal Affinity switches from 3/4 time to 6/8 time and back again, while the notes in the main melody remain the same. There are also some melodic inversions, inspired by Bach. And Golden Morning is rich in luscious chords.
5. Audience Appeal and Context: Consider the audience preferences and the context in which the piece will be performed. Choose pieces that align with the orchestra's strengths while captivating the audience's attention and interest. What might be appealing to one audience may not connect at all with another. For instance, compare the tastes of people in Billings, Montana with those in Atlanta, Georgia.

 The Decision-Making Process After a thorough evaluation, the string orchestra director should weigh the gathered information against the orchestra's proficiency level and objectives. Balancing the right level of challenge with the ensemble's abilities is crucial for fostering growth and maintaining enthusiasm within the group. 

1. Listening and Play-through: Listen to recordings and obtain a score to play through the piece. Practical experience in playing the piece provides insights into its challenges and overall feel. To make this easy for you, Salt Cellar Creations has audio recordings of all of its compositions and arrangements.
2. Consultation and Rehearsal Consideration: Discuss the potential piece with fellow music educators or orchestra directors. Seek their opinions and consider how the piece fits into the orchestra's rehearsal schedule and educational goals. Be wary of “Likes”, “Thumbs UP” etc. on social media. There are far too many trolls online who find pleasure in distorting any accurate assessment of a website, post, blog, etc.
3. Flexibility and Adaptability: Maintain flexibility in the selection process. Consider modifications or adaptations that could make a challenging piece more accessible or vice versa. Salt Cellar Creations can make changes if you CONTACT US for information. Remember that copyrighted music cannot be changed without the composer or arranger’s permission.
4. Long-Term Planning: Align the selected piece with a long-term vision for the orchestra's growth. Consider how the chosen music contributes to the ensemble's musical development and performance repertoire. Think about how many times the orchestra can play it. You wouldn’t want to play it every year, unless it had become a theme song or a memorial. To play it no more often than every other year would be a good place to begin the planning process. But, you need to keep in mind that some of your better players may have graduated or changed music interests. Then, you would need to consider if it could be played by a group not quite as good as the present group. Of course, you may acquire an even better bunch than you have now.

 Conclusion Selecting suitable music for a string orchestra demands a delicate balance between challenge and comfort, tailored to the ensemble's abilities and objectives. A string orchestra director's ability to assess the orchestra's proficiency level and effectively evaluate potential pieces is instrumental in nurturing the ensemble's growth and delivering exceptional musical performances. 

By considering instrumentation, musical complexity, thematic relevance, teaching opportunities, and performance context, a string orchestra director can confidently choose pieces that inspire, challenge, and showcase the orchestra's talents, ensuring a fulfilling musical journey for both the musicians and their audience. 

Salt Cellar Creations understands the beauty and power that a String Orchestra can convey and the challenges that choosing music for it can present. We have a growing library of original works and arrangements. Explore the offerings HERE. 

SCC can also compose an original piece for you or do a custom arrangement for you. There are two ways that this can be done; one is much more affordable than the other. And SCC is always looking for ideas of pieces to arrange or suggestions for original pieces. 

We have sold music not only in the US but in Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Australia, and New Zealand. Please visit the WEBSITE or  CONTACT US to let us know what we can do for you!