More Festive Strings for Ensemble: Viola Ensemble Book

This collection solves a real problem: you need repertoire that works for violas at multiple levels without forcing you to teach three different arrangements. Martin's choice of accessible keys and minimal position shifts keeps the focus on ensemble balance and intonation rather than technical survival. The instrumentation is compatible across the entire Festive Strings series, so you can combine your viola ensemble with violins, cellos, and basses for a fuller sound whenever you want.

Warm and straightforward. These are melodies most musicians and audiences know by heart, so the arrangement gets out of the way and lets the beauty of the themes shine. The viola's natural warmth becomes an asset rather than a limitation, especially in the lower register where these pieces sit.

Viola students from early intermediate through advanced who want to play recognizable music together, whether in sectionals or full orchestra. Directors building year-round ensemble repertoire will find these arrangements equally useful for holiday concerts, all-school performances, and community events.

• Balance the melody among your first and second viola lines during the tutti sections; because these instruments occupy similar ranges, clarity requires restraint from the seconds rather than volume from the firsts.
• Tune the open D and A strings carefully at the start of rehearsal, then check them again before performance. Holiday repertoire sits comfortably in the viola's register, which means intonation issues become immediately audible.
• Let the rhythmic drive of pieces like 'Good King Wenceslas' and 'We Three Kings' come from rhythmic precision, not tempo. These melodies benefit from a relaxed pace with crisp articulation.
• Record a section run-through and listen for where the melody gets buried. Viola ensembles often need explicit dynamic shaping in the arrangement itself to make traditional melodies sound full rather than muddy.

Deploy this collection for your winter concert in November and December, or save it for spring if you want a lighter program alongside commissioned or contemporary work. Mix and match with the violin and cello volumes from the same series to create a full-sounding ensemble piece without requiring every student to be advanced.

• Reading viola clef with consistent accuracy across changing registers
• Balancing ensemble sound in the alto and tenor clefs simultaneously
• Intonation awareness in the viola's natural range without relying on open strings
• Phrasing and melodic shaping in familiar material
• Sight-reading in accessible but varied keys