Soaring with the Dragons

Imagine flying amongst magnificent, magical creatures in Soaring with the Dragons. Uplifting major melodies contrasted by explorations into darker minor modal sections take performers and audience members on a high-flying musical adventure. The piece remains in the key of D major, yet provides plenty of variety through accents, pizzicato, dynamics, and a contrasting modal section without the need for extensions or slurs. Suited for young musicians, Soaring with the Dragons is an attainable string serenade with level-appropriate doublings, ranges, and techniques. Second violins and violas support each other with only D and A string notes. Close attention should be paid to left hand position to help with fourth finger E and A intonation. Fourth finger E and A are marked in places that will minimize string crossings and soften tone but may be used more often by advanced players. First violins will need to be comfortable playing on the E string with low second finger G, marked as a reminder each time it occurs. The cello and bass parts complement each other. In more technical cello passages, the bass lays chordal foundation structure without needing to shift. Rehearsal E will require some practice as performers gain confidence in their entrances and switching from pizzicato to arco. Cello and bass players may use a left hand pizzicato on the repeat from rehearsal B to the beginning if they are unable to recover from using their bow in time for a solid pizzicato entrance. Performers can gain confidence and uniformity in bow distribution by using the common eighth and quarter note combinations found in the piece set to the D major scale as warm-up.