Music
Here you’ll find four pieces from the book Arias, Ländlers, and Laments, three second violin parts to play with additional pieces in the collection, plus two free duets.
Examples of pieces from the collection:
Where'er You Walk
Composed by: George Frederic Handel
An aria from Handel’s opera Semele. It was one of the show pieces of the brilliant Irish tenor, John McCormack.
Ländler from The Sound of Music
Composed by: Richard Rodgers
This melody is played as Maria and Captain von Trapp realize their love, while dancing the intricate Austrian folk dance, the ländler.
Dido's Lament
Composed by: Henry Purcell
During this soprano aria from the opera, Dido and Aeneas, Dido intones this iconic lament while Aeneas is sailing forever away.
the silent lotus blossom
Composed by: Clara Schumann
The lotus flower appears as a symbol of the complex love between Robert and Clara Schumann in Clara’s song. The poem by Emmanuel Geibel is included in the book, and aids in visualizing the story behind the music.
Free Duet parts to use with pieces in the collection:
Zapateo cubano
A Cuban dance found in the collection that alternates between 2 and 3 beats per measure. Great fun to play fast, but a moderate tempo is acceptable too!
EL CANT DELS OCELLS
This simple accompaniment pairs with a lovely tune made popular by the Catalan cellist Pablo Casals.
A MEDIA NOCHE
At Midnight
A waltz from the Calentano traditional music of Mexico, with violin accompaniment.
Free Additional duets for 2 violins or violin & viola:
Rondeau, by Purcell
An arrangement for violin and viola of a piece in 3/2 and in D minor, with a stateliness and mild melancholy. It has become well known from period dramas, perhaps most famously from the 2005 film adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.
TICO TICO
A lively Brazilian melody that includes syncopations, tango-like rhythms, and large jumps, arranged for two violins. A Tico Tico is a rufous-collared sparrow.
Why “Arias, Ländlers and Laments”?
Arias are songs. Singing on our violins is what violinists do. It is one of our major endeavors.
As for “ländlers”: We started on a quest to define a ländler because of Fritz Kreisler’s tempo marking for “Liebeslied”: “Tempo di ländler.” Kreisler was Austrian; ländlers are Austrian. (For more on ländlers, see the glossary). With that, we went on a further quest to discover more ländlers, and hence, added some to this book. Since a ländler is a dance, and playing dance music is an element of what a violinist, over the centuries, has been tasked to do, the term “ländler” in our collection is a stand-in for dance music in general. Many of the dances in this book are from the past, but others are still danced with enthusiasm today. Also, one can see that there are many cultures that have types of pieces unique to their own community, like Kundimans in the Philippines, Tangos in Argentina and Brazil, and Hoppwaltzes among the Norwegian-Americans in Wisconsin. Here, we have only scratched the surface of interesting subsets of cultural music, with Austrian ländlers getting more emphasis on this go around.
Laments are pieces of mourning and sadness, and we found we both leaned into poignant melodies in a minor key. Of course, there are ravishingly beautiful melodies in major keys too, and this collection contains a satisfying mix for violinists whose predilections lean towards the uplifting and joyful.
More Information...
19 pieces from this collection were composed originally for the violin, including slow movements from violin concertos, sonata movements, short pieces, melodies composed on scraps of paper by well known composers, and folk/fiddle tunes.
An informational chart lists each composer’s dates and nationality, key signature, time signature, tempo marking and the genre of each piece.
Since you’ve come to this website, please consider purchasing Arias, Ländlers & Laments.