Dove's Vagary: String Orchestra Conductor Score & Parts

$48.00 USD

Dove's Vagary: String Orchestra Conductor Score & Parts

Name: Dove's Vagary: String Orchestra Conductor Score & Parts
Brand: Alfred Music
SKU: 00-40475
Price: 48.00 USD
Availability: InStock

Adapted from John Playford's The Dancing Master, 1651

By Shirl Jae Atwell

Grade: 2.5

Item: 00-40475

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Adapted from a dance tune of the 1600s, this is a very dance-like, lively tune. The melody is light-hearted and carefree. As with any dance music, maintaining the rhythmic vigor is crucial. Gaiety and a sense of fun is the very nature of this piece, so have fun!

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Series: Highland/Etling String Orchestra

Publisher: Alfred Music

Page Count: 124

UPC: 038081454344

SKU: 00-40475

More about this title

About the Composer: Shirl Jae Atwell

Shirl Jae Atwell studied music theory and composition at the University of Louisville, where she earned her master's degree, and completed additional graduate work in composition at the University of South Carolina following her undergraduate training at Kansas State Teachers College. Her career spans orchestral works, operas, and ballets; she won the National School Orchestra Association composition contest in 1996 for her string orchestra piece Modus á Four and received the Clifford Shaw Memorial Award for Kentucky Composers in 1984. Her works have been performed by major ensembles including the Louisville Ballet, premiered at universities across the country, and placed in the permanent collection of the Paris Bibliothèque Internationale de Musique Contemporaine.

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Why we love this

Atwell captures the infectious energy of period dance music without drowning students in historical detail. The piece moves naturally, maintains genuine melodic charm, and gives young orchestras a legitimate reason to dig into rhythmic precision and ensemble clarity, not as abstract exercises, but as essential ingredients for keeping the fun alive.

What to expect

Imagine stepping into a bustling tavern or village square in the 1600s, all bright skirts, quick footwork, and infectious laughter. The melody bounces with genuine joy, inviting the players into a world where technical competence becomes the vehicle for pure musical delight.

Who it's for

Grade 2.5 string orchestras ready to explore character and style beyond elementary technical studies. This works equally well for groups preparing contest material or building a concert program that celebrates musicality at an accessible level.

How to get the most out of it

Keep the pulse dancing. A metronome or light conducting gesture will help; this piece lives or dies on rhythmic buoyancy, not expressive rubato.
Shape the melody with genuine articulation. Let students hear how the lightness comes from clean attacks and natural phrase breathing, not from playing timidly.
Balance the inner voices so the dance texture breathes. Violas and second violins should sit just below the melody line, creating space rather than filling it.

How to use it

Pair this with a contrasting slow work or contemporary piece to show range and stylistic versatility in a single concert. Its concert and festival credentials make it equally suitable as a standalone offering or as part of a thematic program exploring dance across centuries.