| 70513 | Celtic Suite |
|
| (Arr. O'Neill, John) |  Score
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| Category: String Orchestra |
| Grade: Medium Easy |
| Duration: 9:00 |
| Instrumentation: str=10.10.8.8.6 |
| Comments: The Ash Grove, Rakes of Mallow, Loch Lomand, Skye Boat Song, Scotland the Brave. |
| Description: The Ash Grove, a lovely Welsh ballad, is scored for muted strings and should flow at a steady, relaxed tempo with a slight retard only at the very end. Rakes of Mallow is attributed to the town of Mallow in County Cork Ireland and celebrates the antics of a group of local ‘rakes’ (rascals?) in that town. The piece charges ahead…right up to the edge of the ‘grand pause’…then continues break-neck to the end! Loch Lomond shares with the next piece of origin dating back to the Jacobite Rebellion when Bonnie Prince Charlie left his supporting clans against the British in 1749. Though a beautiful melody, the lyrics reflect the despair throughout Scotland following the Prince’s defeat. Skye Boat Song recounts the tail of Prince Charlie’s clandestine escape to the foggy Isle of Skye and, eventually, France. Scotland the Brave, ‘the unofficial national anthem’ of Scotland, picks up from the previous movement with a slow, pianissimo statement of the theme by the first violins (possibly a solo, muted violin), which, with the entrance of the full orchestra, slowly builds to a climatic ending. |