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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Quartet No.4 in C Major K.157 

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When Mozart was a teenager, he had travelled to Italy three times with his father, each time, he had to write a new opera. This is where he wrote the Milan quartets (K.155-160) the Milan quartets is where Mozart began to no longer restrict the cello and viola parts to only accompany the violins but to strike out on their own, this is also seen in the second violin parts.

The opening movement of K.157 is rather cheerful and bright, which is the movement that we have chosen to play as part of our setlist.

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Videos and photos of the concert in old st. Pauls church on 07/05/25

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Videos and photos of the concert in old st. Pauls church on 07/05/25

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02/05/25

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06/05/2025

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G major scale and G major arpeggio scale I use as a warm up for practice

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I use this piece as a warm up for practice as it is a fast lively piece with varied playing techniques and it is very jumpy from different notes and different strings.

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When practicing i have started going over sections/bars that I struggle with 5-10 times until I can play them confidently.

Writing notes on my sheet music has also been helping me which is something I have been doing more of recently and I find it has been effective with my practicing.

03/04/25

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I sight read music when rehearsing and performing. I have to find out what the time signature and key signature is first by looking at the start of the piece. Then I can see how is played with different bowing and string techniques on different notes. one thing I struggle with is reading notes above the stave, higher notes on the E string but I am quite confident in reading and playing them on the stave and below.

25/04/25

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This is my essay that I wrote for project 2 discussing the the Mozart piece we performed at the concert in December at Old St Paul’s church.

08/04/25

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I am also familiar with playing Vivaldi as we have performed a variety of his work in the past. For example Concerto for strings in D major RV 212

08/09/25

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Throughout the course I have improved my knowledge and experience in playing as part of the string ensemble by working with others, it has improved my confidence as a performer, not only with a group Infront of a live audience but also within my solo performance.  I performed with the string ensemble in December and since then we have continued to practice and rehearse weekly, solo and as a group in preparation for our concert in early May.

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This project is to perform and showcase the varied pieces we have been working on and developing since our last performance in December. Our aim is to provide a positive experience for the audience, making it an uplifting and memorable event. We have selected pieces we feel will achieve this aim, by having a range of classical arrangements with different tempos, keys and styles to keep the audience engaged as well as having good overall energy in our performance for example with use of dynamics and varied playing techniques to create an enjoyable atmosphere for the audience. For the set up on the stage in the church we will just need our music stands and sheet music with chairs set out into the right groups for different parts of the ensemble all facing the audience, so the sound travels well to them. We will also have leaflets that will be given on entry with all the running times of the concert and the name of the pieces which will have the audience feel more involved.

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The way in which I plan to evaluate my progress within the project is to take notes on my progress and then write them into my padlet and then further evaluate what I have done each week. I will also continue to record my solo practice and the time that i have spent rehearsing to further evaluate my progress.

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Mozart - String Quartet No. 4 in C, K. 157 (Score)

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Grieg -  Two Elegiac Melodies, Op.34. String Orchestra (SCORE)

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A. Vivaldi: RV 113 / Concerto for strings & b.c. in C major / Budapest Strings

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"Mozart, The 'Haydn' quartets" - John Irving

-Cambridge Music Handbooks

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https://www.westcorkmusic.ie/works/string-quartet-in-c-major-k-157/

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Schedule - Week 1 (Beginning 24th March)

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Schedule - Week 1 (Beginning 24th March)

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-Throughout the week I will be practicing at home and in college. On Thursday 27th March I will have my individual lesson as well as attending string ensemble practice.

-I will need my violin, sheet music and music stand. I will also need access to the dance studio and a practice booth/space.

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Schedule - Week 2 (Beginning 31st March)

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Schedule - Week 2 (Beginning 31st March)

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-Throughout the week I will be practicing at home and in college. On Thursday 3rd March I will have my individual lesson as well as attending string ensemble practice.

-I will also working on the research section of the project.

-I will need my violin, sheet music and music stand. I will also need access to the dance studio and practice booths/space as well as the library to use the computers.

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Schedule - Week 3 (Beginning 21st April)

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Schedule - Week 3 (Beginning 21st April)

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-Throughout the week I will be practicing at home and in college. On Thursday 24th April I will have my individual lesson as well as attending string ensemble practice.

- I will also be working on the practical skills and knowledge section of the project.

-I will need my violin, sheet music and music stand. I will also need access to the dance studio and practice booths/space as well as the library to use the computers.

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Schedule - Week 4 (Beginning 28th April)

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Schedule - Week 4 (Beginning 28th April)

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-Throughout the week I will be practicing at home and in college. On Thursday 1st May I will have my individual lesson as well as attending string ensemble practice.

-I will need my violin, sheet music and music stand. I will also need access to the dance studio and a practice booth/space.

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-Throughout the week I will be practicing at home and in college. On Thursday 8th May I will have my individual lesson as well as attending string ensemble practice.

I will also be using this time to work on my evaluation of the project.

-I will need my violin, sheet music and music stand. I will also need access to the dance studio and practice booths/space as well as the library to use the computers.

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Antonio Vivaldi - Concerto in Do maggiore RV.113

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One of Vivaldi’s many concertos written for strings and orchestra. RV.113 is less known than many of his other works but it still shows his very signature and unique style. It is believed to have been written around the early 18th century when he was a violin teacher in Venice.

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Edvard Grieg - Zwei elegische Melodier (Two Elegiac Melodies) Op.34 Herzwuden (Heart-wounds)

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Grieg was chronically ill which meant that he would have periods of being unproductive for months at a time. He returned to work in 1880 inspired by the poet Aasmund Olafsson Vinje, whose art focused on rural Norwegian life. For Op.34 Grieg chose two of these poems and “translated” them for string orchestra. He re wrote the vocal lines for strings and the word for note orchestration he employed has been described genius. The first movement is to speak of the wounds of life and their inability to destroy faith.

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Each week I spend some time daily practicing violin at home or in a practice booth at college. I split this time up into warm ups, solo pieces, string ensemble pieces and trad pieces. I run through the pieces a few times and find where I am more weak in them and practice those bars over and over again until I am more confident. I also spend a lot of time listening to the pieces on YouTube or Spotify to further familiarise myself with them as well as playing along with them.

25/04/25

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Old St Paul’s Scottish Episcopal Church

The church hall is where we will be performing at Old St Paul’s Church on Jeffery Street, Edinburgh. Very central and right across from Edinburgh Waverly station so it is very easy to get to. The hall can accommodate for an audience of up to 130 people.

23/03/25

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Once a week on Thursdays we practice together as a string ensemble from 13:15-14:45 then head down to the auditorium and release with trad band from 15:00-16:30. At home I often practice with my sister as she also plays violin we like playing a mix of different trad pieces.

25/04/25

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16/05/25

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Since I started playing violin as a child I have had a lot of experience performing. I performed every year at the Lochgelly centre from when I was 8 until I was 17 in the Lochgelly high school Christmas concerts. Each year I would also go and perform in the Adam smith theatre in the fife festival of music in the non competitive category. At easter time we would also perform for all the local care homes. I also played in the fife school stings orchestra for a few years where we would do concerts at Auchmuty high school. This gave me many skills that I now apply to current performances such as working with other people so frequently and increased confidence with performing. They prepared me for the performances we do at college now for example the Christmas concerts in December, Performing at community events at the grantor campus as well as our up coming performance on the 7th may.

25/04/25

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Evidence for practical skills and knowledge:

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Evidence for practical skills and knowledge:

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Our target audience is those who enjoy the atmosphere and experience of live string ensemble music and people who are fans of a variety of different styles of music like baroque and classical.

23/03/25

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On Monday 17th March I went to see the Carducci string quartet in the Queens Hall with many other members of the string ensemble. I have been inspired by their energy as a group, I feel like their liveliness, as well as the way they portrayed and showed the emotion in the pieces was very unique and uplifting.

24/03/25

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This is the poster for the concert which is posted on a variety of platforms with a QR code to access the ticket link.

03/04/25

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My role in the string ensemble is playing as a second violinist. This means mainly supporting the first violins harmonically and rhythmically. The first violins generally play the melody and the highest line of the string ensemble. In the ensemble there is also viola, cello and double bass. The viola fills the middle ground between the high strings and the cello and double bass adding depth to the overall sound. The cello and the double bass provide a rich supporting harmony playing the lowest notes.

All parts have an equal responsibility to rehearse in their own time to have a good understanding of the pieces we are playing and to be well prepared for group rehearsal.

For a successful group rehearsal we all need to show on time, be set up and have brought all our parts with us. During rehearsal it's important to stay in time with each other as well as paying attention to the conductor so we can all keep in time.

03/04/25

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Chairs and music stands I set up for our string ensemble rehearsal on 03/04/25. It will be set up very similar on the stage on the day of the concert in old St Paul’s church.

03/04/25

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This is the way that I keep track of how long for and when I have practiced daily by noting it down on paper.

25/04/25

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25/04/25

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Music Box Sessions Season 3 | String Ensemble

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String ensemble performing at the Granton campus. We played lots of different Christmas songs and carols for children in the local community.

25/04/25

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Trad band performing at the Granton campus

25/04/25

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String ensemble performing at old st Pauls church.

25/04/25

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14/03/25 - I have finished my proposal and submitted it for grading yesterday (Thursday 13th march) I rehearsed the pieces with the string ensemble. I feel like we had some successful run throughs of the pieces. I will aim on producing a louder fuller sound on my violin as there is only two of us in second violins. Today I began work on the research part of my project. I am starting by researching the pieces we are playing.

20/03/25 - I have been practicing throughout the week. On Monday 17th I went to see the Carducci string quartet at the Queen's hall. I have been inspired by their energy as a group. I feel like their liveliness and the way in which they portrayed and showed emotion of the pieces they played was very unique and uplifting. Today I rehearsed in my solo lesson and now solo practice in a booth before string ensemble rehearsal. I have finished the setlist section in the research part of my project.

23/03/25 - Today I researched the venue of the concert and target audience and wrote about it in my Padlet.

24/03/25 - Wrote about my inspirations.

03/04/25 - Reheased throughout the week in preparation for my lesson. Had lesson this morning, now working on my research before string ensemble rehearsal. I finished the research section of my project, also began the next section. Completed my stage plan.

24/04/25 - Had personal lesson at 10:20 then rehearsed with string ensemble at 13:15 with Laurie conducting the Mozart and the Greig piece also rehearsed with extra members, Laura who was part of the string ensemble last year on first violin as well as another first violin. Rehearsed with trad band after in preparation for the concert, also have been practicing at home over the break. This week I will be focusing on the trad pieces for the concert as I feel like it is my most weak part.

01/05/25 - Today I was supposed to have my solo violin lesson then strings however I missed it as I had a very stressful morning looking after my friend and I was too overwhelmed to leave the house however, I did spend a good part of the day practicing in my house.

06/05/25 - practiced a lot for the concert tomorrow. Made sure my dress to wear is ironed and clean. Cleaned my violin up and packed my sheet music ready to leave tomorrow. We are rehearsing at 2:15pm.

07/05/25 - rehearsed in the church today and at home in the morning. Went home and have been listening to the pieces so they are in my head fresh. I have practiced extra on the parts I felt were weak this morning, but other than a few flaws i feel like it was a successful rehearsal today.

16/05/25

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Antonio Vivaldi - Concerto in Do maggiore RV.113

Edvard Grieg - Zwei elegische Melodier (Two Elegiac Melodies) Op.34 Herzwuden (Heart-wounds)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Quartet No.4 in C Major K.157

16/05/25

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16/05/25

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16/05/25

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16/05/25

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16/05/25

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The research I did for this project included studying the sheet music of the pieces we were playing, researching the venue in which we were playing in, the target audience of the concert and looking into my roles and responsibilities of my part in the string ensemble.

Researching all of these elements has helped me to develop the project as it furthered my understanding and knowledge of everything I was to do in preparation for the concert.

Some resources that I have used is the practice booths and rooms at college to rehearse which I feel improved my confidence when playing as I have to practice a lot quieter at home so it is good to be able to rehearse making a more full sound, Another resource I frequently used was the YouTube links of the the pieces that we were playing. I would listen to them quite often to familiarise my self with the pieces.

Over the course of the project, As I have been researching a lot about the pieces we were playing, my knowledge has also developed a lot on the composers themselves, their influences and lives.

Overall I am happy with the outcome of the project and the final concert. In future I feel like I need to work on being less anxious during the performance but since the start of this project I feel like my confidence has improved quite a lot overall.

23/05/25