Loreta Fin

This piece is a fun exercise in counting notes and, just as importantly, counting rests. The players have to listen carefully, and never stop counting the beat. The notes are very simple, based on the...

This piece is a fun exercise in counting notes and, just as importantly, counting rests. The players have to listen carefully, and never stop counting the beat. The notes are very simple, based on the...

This piece contains excellent lessons in baroque articulation and bowing styles. Be sure to instruct your ensemble to play detached sixteenth notes and short martelé quarter notes. The first violin pa...

This piece contains excellent lessons in baroque articulation and bowing styles. Be sure to instruct your ensemble to play detached sixteenth notes and short martelé quarter notes. The first violin pa...

Get ready to clap and stomp with this lively country-style barn dance. Bow divisions are important here, with string crossings and semiquaver passages guaranteed to keep everyone busy. Block pizzicato...

Get ready to clap and stomp with this lively country-style barn dance. Bow divisions are important here, with string crossings and semiquaver passages guaranteed to keep everyone busy. Block pizzicato...

This piece commences with a slow introduction in triple time. Its rich harmonies lead to a feeling of expectation, before heralding the Allegro, with an alternating 6/8-3/4 time signature. Students ar...

For my Loreta's mother, Patricia Fin, who is a big fan of Beethoven's music. This arrangement is designed for ensembles which are ready to address concepts of style in their performances. In the openi...

For Loreta's mother, Patricia Fin, who is a big fan of Beethoven's music. This arrangement is designed for ensembles which are ready to address concepts of style in their performances. In the opening...

The Requiem Mass in D Minor (K. 626) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was left unfinished upon his death in 1791. He composed only the first eight bars of the "Lacrymosa" movement, which was completed later...

Mozart's Requiem in D Minor is a sublime work. The Kyrie is a masterful lesson in fugal writing, requiring the students to "count like crazy." Every section of the orchestra plays the syncopated entri...

Mozart's Requiem in D Minor is a sublime work. The Kyrie is a masterful lesson in fugal writing, requiring the students to "count like crazy." Every section of the orchestra plays the syncopated entri...

These three short chorales (G major, G minor, G major) are excellent warm-up exercises, but would also be very useful for training ensembles to listen for pure intonation. Vibrato and tone quality cou...

These three short chorales (G major, G minor, G major) are excellent warm-up exercises, but would also be very useful for training ensembles to listen for pure intonation. Vibrato and tone quality cou...

There are not many opportunities for young string orchestras to perform repertoire in 5/8. Often, it is not encountered until much later. This piece introduces a 3+2, as well as a 2+3 feel, with splas...

The music evokes the joyful atmosphere of the famous Carnivale di Venezia, with its colourful characters and beautifully painted masks. The melody is instantly recognisable, and the variations explore...

A Saltarello is an Italian folk dance, similar to a tarantella. Its main feature is the "leap" step, which comes from the Italian verb "saltare," meaning to jump. This is portrayed in the hooked bowin...

Smooth legato and accurate counting are important in this delightful, lyrical work by Loreta Fin. Some extension work is required in the violins. Bow speeds and divisions should be carefully considere...

Ignaz Pleyel was born near Vienna in 1757. He was a favorite pupil of Haydn, and both Haydn and Mozart admired his compositions. He wrote a great quantity of music of every kind, but is now better kno...

Ignaz Pleyel was born near Vienna in 1757. He was a favourite pupil of Haydn, and both Haydn and Mozart admired his compositions. He wrote a great quantity of music of every kind, but is now better kn...

Lost Puppy is a 2011 composition by Loreta Fin with a melancholy mood. Students have often commented how sad the piece sounds. In this new work, after many years, the lost puppy is finally found. The...

Lost Puppy is a 2011 composition by Loreta Fin with a melancholy mood. Students have often commented how sad the piece sounds. In this new work, after many years, the lost puppy is finally found. The...

This piece was suggested by a student in a workshop, who had just played Viva Italia, an arrangement by Loreta Fin, based on the famous "Neapolitan Tarantella." It is a good opportunity to work on hoo...

This piece was suggested by a student in a workshop, who had just played Viva Italia, an arrangement by Loreta Fin, based on the famous "Neapolitan Tarantella." It is a good opportunity to work on hoo...

Just add ... strings! This uncomplicated work is designed to teach very elementary concepts of bowing, pizzicato, lifted bows, and dynamics. It uses eight basic rhythms in common time. The use of rhyt...