Mock Morris: Score
English Country Dance
By Percy Grainger / arr. David Giardiniere
Grade: 2.5
Item: 00-PR-0003304
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Description
The Morris dance has been performed throughout the English countryside since the time of William Shakespeare. Grainger was so taken by the form that he wrote his own melodies for the dance to great success! This sparkling arrangement offers young players the joy of this dance described as "always merry and bright." Guaranteed to get the toes tapping in your audience.
Don't just read it, hear it, play along with it, and watch your students grow with it. In MakeMusic Cloud, Mock Morris: Score comes alive with professional accompaniment, adjustable tempo, and built-in practice tools that turn solo practice into real progress.
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Additional Details
Series:
Belwin Beginning String Orchestra
Publisher:
Alfred Music
Page Count:
144
SKU:
00-PR-0003304
Instrumentation:
strings w/ vln 3
More about this title
About the Composer: Percy Grainger
Percy Grainger (1882-1961) was an Australian-born composer and pianist who became one of the most innovative voices in early twentieth-century music. He had a deep passion for folk music and spent years collecting and studying traditional melodies from around the world, then reimagining them with fresh harmonic ideas and orchestral color. His arrangements of folk material remain central to the string orchestra and band repertoires because he understood how to honor the simplicity of a tune while making it sound completely alive on the page.
Why we love this
Grainger's infectious energy shines through in every bar of this piece. David Giardiniere's arrangement captures the spirit of the original while sitting perfectly in the hands of young players, giving string orchestras a chance to perform something genuinely joyful that audiences recognize as "real" music, not simplified repertoire.
What to expect
The piece crackles with the kind of brightness that makes an audience smile before the first phrase ends. Grainger's folk melodies bounce along with an irresistible forward motion, and the orchestration sparkles with rhythmic life. It feels like watching dancers move across a village green on a sunny afternoon, all energy and warmth without a moment of pretense.
Who it's for
This score and parts set works for any string orchestra director working with Grade 2.5 ensembles that want to program something energetic and crowd-pleasing. Young players at this level gain confidence from playing music that audiences recognize as genuinely musical, and the moderate difficulty means rehearsal time goes toward musicality rather than mechanics.
How to get the most out of it
- Keep the articulation bouncy and light throughout; the dance character demands articulate bowing that lets the melody skip along rather than sustain smoothly.
- Lock the rhythmic pulse with your lower strings and violas, as their steady foundation keeps younger first violins confident when they carry the melody.
- Shape the phrasing in two and four-bar units to let the dance form breathe naturally and give the audience clear moments to feel the rhythmic drive.
- Bring out the third violin part when it appears; Giardiniere has written it as an active voice, not filler, and young players thrive when their lines matter.
How to use it
Slot this into a spring or end-of-year concert as a palate cleanser between more serious repertoire, or build an entire program around English and British folk traditions. It also works beautifully as an opener for a contest or festival appearance, since it establishes ensemble unity and audience goodwill in the first two minutes.
Skills your students will build
- Light articulation and rhythmic precision in dance-form contexts
- Maintaining steady pulse in ensemble settings while accompanying solo lines
- Shaping four-bar phrases and recognizing form through repetition
- Balance and texture awareness, particularly with three violin parts working together