Strip the Willow

String Orchestra

2' 06"

This was composed somewhere between July and September 2004.

Competition and Composition: New Music for Schools. Education Queensland and the Young Conservatorium Griffith University

Another work in this series (Competition and Composition) and one that was written for one of the finest school-based string orchestras in the country. Christine Buwalda has been producing very good string students for many years and her orchestras are always of a high calibre both technically and tonally. I knew that in writing this work I could place challenges in front of the musicians which would confront them but they would be met and performed with aplomb. I also wanted to write a work that had an Australian context; a fiddle tune based around an Aussie folk song. I am indebted to Buwalda for her encouragement in writing the work and her advice on bowings and technical aspects for the work.

Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia with the Bundaberg State High School String Orchestra, the composer conducting, 18 March 2005
Subsequent performances:

• Various school and community band performances related to inclusion on select repertoire lists for contest and festival both in Australia and the USA

Alfred Publishing USA in the Belwin Concert Orchestra Series www.alfred.com in 2007.

Sketch, Engraved score

Program note

Alfred - Belwin publication

Alfred Music


(This is more of the tempo required to make the work sound authentic.)

The concert performance was excellent. I was thrilled with the orchestra's playing and their response to me as conductor. I think the work put in by Christine to prepare them made my life easier at the premiere. There was an energetic response from the audience that was made up mainly of parents and families. The work has been performed both here and in the USA by a number of ensembles.
Review of Strip the Willow

It's actually not a "strip the willow' tune I think! I love this piece - it's energetic, it "plays' with the material, it demands much from the players technically and musically and it's quite enjoyable for the listener. I consider the promotional recording (c.f. the hyper link above) to be a very careful rendition of the piece. The editor told me that they couldn't make a recording that sounded too hard because it would have an adverse impact on sales. My sense is that they have produced such a "safe' interpretation that it has not evoked an excited reaction to a work that is powerful and energetic, and flippant, all at once.