Ever since Peter Warlock’s “Capriol Suite” for string orchestra entered public domain in 2022, I’ve been wanting to arrange it for solo violin so my students can enjoy its catchy Renaissance melodies and quirky 20th-century harmonies. I finally completed that project, and my arrangement is now available for digital download at Sheet Music Direct and Sheet Music Plus. It’s also available right here, at a discount!
This engaging suite of six Renaissance dance tunes, reimagined by Warlock (pseudonym of Philip Heseltine) for string orchestra in the 1920s, has been reduced to a solo violin piece with piano accompaniment. Suitable for intermediate to advanced violin players, the required techniques involve rapid tempos, spiccato bowing, some double stops, and expressive vibrato, with minimal shifting higher than 3rd position. The piano part is advanced. Depending on the violinist’s technical level, they could choose to play one or more of the easier movements (Basse-Danse, Pavane) or all six, including the unrelenting spiccatos in Bransles or the finger-twisting double stops in the finale of Mattachins. The highly expressive Pieds-en-l’air is a lovely stand-alone elegy, but with a title that will make students giggle (“Feet-in-the-air??”).
Here’s the source tune for Bransles along with a demonstration of its dance. Students can explore how Peter Warlock originally changed and enhanced the tune.
If you purchase this arrangement, I’d welcome your feedback! Drop a comment below.
