Acrobats: String Orchestra Conductor Score & Parts

Meyer writes with intimate knowledge of what advanced high school orchestras can accomplish, and Acrobats capitalizes on that expertise by demanding real technical maturity without sacrificing musical coherence. The French Impressionistic harmonic language and metric shifts will stretch your players' sight-reading and ensemble coordination in concrete, musical ways. This is the kind of piece that makes a convincing case for orchestral music at a concert or festival.

From the opening burst of glittering sixteenth notes, this piece captures the acrobatic spectacle it depicts, alive with visual energy and virtuosity. The middle section offers graceful contrast, inviting lyrical playing before the ensemble hurtles toward a thrilling accelerando-driven finale that leaves performers and audiences exhilarated.

Advanced high school string orchestras ready for music that makes technical and musical demands in equal measure. Players should be comfortable with rapid note patterns, shifting meters, and harmonic language beyond basic diatonic progressions.

• Balance the rapid sixteenth-note opening by having each section voice the figure independently in rehearsal; this clarifies the rhythmic framework before bringing the texture together at performance tempo.
• Establish a secure pulse during the key and time signature shifts by having musicians practice counting through transitions without the accompaniment first, then layering parts section by section.
• Shape the middle section's graceful character by encouraging longer bow strokes and singing tone quality, contrasting sharply with the driven articulation of the opening and closing passages.
• Control the final "molto accelerando" by setting a clear baseline tempo and having the ensemble practice the acceleration in isolated phrases; mark specific measure numbers where tempo should advance incrementally.

Program Acrobats as a centerpiece on a spring or year-end concert where you want to showcase your ensemble's technical development and artistry. Its three-and-a-half-minute duration makes it a strong choice for festival competitions, and the programmatic nature appeals to audiences who may not typically attend classical music performances.

• Reading rapidly shifting key centers and time signatures
• Playing rapid sixteenth-note passages with clarity and precision
• Balancing and blending multi-layered parts in complex textures
• Executing ensemble accelerandi with rhythmic control
• Contrasting articulation and tone quality between sections (graceful vs. driven playing)
• Responding to harmonic language influenced by French Impressionism