Legend of Sleepy Hollow: String Orchestra Conductor Score & Parts

$62.00 USD

Legend of Sleepy Hollow: String Orchestra Conductor Score & Parts

Name: Legend of Sleepy Hollow: String Orchestra Conductor Score & Parts
Brand: Alfred Music
SKU: 00-31606
Price: 62.00 USD
Availability: InStock

By Richard Meyer

Grade: 4

Item: 00-31606

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An exciting and colorful tone poem based on Washington Irving's famous short story, your students will love this musical depiction of the fateful night when Schoolmaster Ichabod Crane meets up with the fabled Headless Horseman. Whimsical, romantic and frightening, this piece is sure to stir the imaginations of your students and their audience. A great challenge for the more advanced string orchestra, and a wonderful lesson in tone painting. This title is available in MakeMusic Cloud.

Don't just read it, hear it, play along with it, and watch your students grow with it. In MakeMusic Cloud, Legend of Sleepy Hollow: String Orchestra Conductor Score & Parts comes alive with professional accompaniment, adjustable tempo, and built-in practice tools that turn solo practice into real progress.

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Series: Highland/Etling String Orchestra

Publisher: Alfred Music

Page Count: 124

UPC: 038081350806

SKU: 00-31606

More about this title

About the Composer: Richard Meyer

Richard Meyer spent 35 years teaching strings across elementary, middle, and high school levels in California public schools. At Oak Avenue Intermediate School in Temple City, he built the orchestra program from 29 students to 200 over his 22-year tenure and directed the city's elementary string initiative. He also led the Pasadena Youth Symphony Orchestra for 16 years, taking ensembles on performance tours to New York, Washington D.C., Vienna, Australia, and Canada.

Beyond the classroom, Meyer has established himself as a prolific composer with over 190 published works and arrangements. He served as string editor for Alfred Publishing for 16 years and co-authored the String Explorer Series and Sight-Read It for Strings. In 2009, he launched the "Giving Bach" program at his school, an interactive concert initiative that has gained national recognition for bringing music to special needs and underserved students throughout Southern California. Meyer remains active as a guest conductor and clinician, having presented at the A.S.T.A. National Conference, the Texas Orchestra Directors' Association Conference, and string workshops at major universities.

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Why we love this

Meyer's orchestration captures the literary atmosphere of Irving's tale with genuine sophistication. Advanced string orchestras will find both technical substance and immediate dramatic appeal here, making it the kind of piece that challenges technique while serving a story your students genuinely want to tell.

What to expect

The piece shifts from mischievous and storybook-like to genuinely eerie and suspenseful as Ichabod's encounter unfolds. Meyer's orchestration paints vivid scenes with the strings alone, moving through moments of tender beauty and mounting dread that keep both players and listeners invested in the tale.

Who it's for

Advanced string orchestras ready to tackle a piece with real musical substance and narrative depth. This work suits programs looking for programmatic music that stretches players beyond basic technique while remaining engaging for student musicians and audiences alike.

How to get the most out of it

Balance the whimsical opening sections with clarity in the string sections; resist the urge to let lighter passages blur together.
Shape the romantic segments with careful attention to vibrato control across the ensemble to maintain transparency in the texture.
Build tension in the climactic Headless Horseman passages through incremental dynamic control rather than jumping immediately to fortissimo.
Work the bow articulations precisely in the faster sections to maintain the rhythmic drive without sacrificing intonation stability.

How to use it

A natural fit for fall and Halloween concerts, this work stands as a centerpiece rather than filler. Pair it with lighter baroque or classical selections to showcase the range of your advanced string orchestra, or program it as a dramatic closer to demonstrate your ensemble's interpretive maturity.

Skills your students will build

Tone painting and musical storytelling through orchestration
Sustaining character and narrative tension across extended passages
Balancing diverse string textures and articulations within a single movement
Playing with intentional vibrato control and dynamic shaping for expressive effect
Reading and executing programmatic cues that reflect literary imagery