The Beloved Cover Image

The Beloved: String Orchestra Conductor Score & Parts

$70.00 USD
$70.00 USD
Skip to product information
The Beloved Cover Image
The Beloved: String Orchestra Conductor Score & Parts

The Beloved: String Orchestra Conductor Score & Parts

By Alan A. Craig

Grade: 3

Item: 00-50377
makemusic Cloud badge

Need it now?

Buy Digital Version
$70.00
Shipped

One moment…

Related Items

The Beloved: String Orchestra Conductor Score & Parts

$70.00
View

The Beloved: HybridNOW String Orchestra Conductor Score & Parts

$70.00
View

The Beloved: String Orchestra Conductor Score

$12.00
View
Description
Robert Burns' 1791 poem "Ae Fond Kiss" is considered by many to be among the greatest love songs ever penned and is performed by singers worldwide, usually with a poignant traditional Scots melody that mirrors the emotional landscape of the text. This much-loved tune is the exquisite thread woven through the 21st-century musical fabric of Alan A. Craig's The Beloved. The Scottish composer has infused his evocative work with echoes of an unmistakably Celtic hue and invites the string ensemble to use their instruments as lyrical voices joined in a vivid expression of tenderness and tragedy.

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

Open in the Player

Jump straight in and assign it today.

Start Your Free Trial

Open this title and explore the full library in minutes.
Sample Pages

Sample Audio
0:00
0:00
Sample Video
Additional Details
Series: Highland String Orchestra
Publisher: Alfred Music
ISBN10: 1-4706-8044-0
ISBN13: 978-1-4706-8044-2
UPC: 038081604732
SKU: 00-50377

More about this title

About the Composer: Alan A. Craig

Alan A. Craig

Alan A. Craig is a Glasgow-based composer, conductor, and educator whose work spans opera, choral music, and orchestral arrangement. Since 2002, he has directed the music department at Glasgow Clyde College while maintaining an active compositional practice; his pieces including the children's opera The Nicht's the Nicht! and choral work A Diminished Mass have received performances and broadcasts internationally and appeared in television and film. Craig's conducting experience encompasses over 100 stage and concert productions, and he has performed as a musician with ensembles including the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.

In 2002, Craig founded The Springfield Cambridge Festival Chorus and Orchestra, a community ensemble that has raised over £500,000 for Children's Hospices Across Scotland through annual Christmas concerts in the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. His contributions to music and charitable work earned him the Paul Harris Fellowship from Rotary International in 2011 and an MBE appointment in King Charles III's 2026 New Year's Honours list.

Why we love this

Craig's treatment of "Ae Fond Kiss" captures the emotional weight of Burns' text through lush string writing that feels genuinely lyrical rather than merely decorative. The Grade 3 orchestration balances accessibility with sophisticated harmonic color, giving student musicians an immediate sense of purpose and musicality without overwhelming technical demands. This is the kind of work that reminds ensembles why they chose string instruments in the first place.

What to expect

Tender and introspective, with moments of aching beauty woven through a distinctly Celtic soundworld. The piece honors Burns' meditation on love and loss while inviting the string section to inhabit the song's emotional truth as if giving voice to words they cannot speak.

Who it's for

String orchestras working at Grade 3 looking for repertoire with emotional substance and cultural depth. This work suits ensembles preparing for festival or contest settings and directors seeking music that engages students in storytelling through instrumental voice.

How to get the most out of it

  • Shape the melodic line with dynamic clarity; the tune itself carries the emotional narrative, so resist the urge to overload it with interpretive gesture. Let the orchestra function as an ensemble of singers.
  • Balance the Scottish harmonic language carefully in sectional rehearsals. Craig's Celtic influences live in subtle chord colors and voice leading, which collapse if any section overpowers the others.
  • Approach the contrasts between tender passages and moments of greater intensity as shifts in vocal quality rather than tempo. The piece invites restraint and control.

How to use it

Pair this with other Scottish or Celtic-influenced works for a thematic concert, or feature it as a contrasting slow movement between more energetic pieces. Its Grade 3 accessibility and contest-suitable design make it ideal for mid-season festival programming or a spring concert focused on song-based orchestration.

Skills your students will build

  • Phrasing long melodic lines with consistent tone and dynamic shape
  • Balancing ensemble blend within harmonic progressions
  • Responding to subtle harmonic and textural shifts
  • Ensemble communication without excessive conducting gesture
  • Playing with lyrical intention and narrative awareness

You May Also Like