My students are learning an arrangement of "Jupiter" from The Planets by Gustav Holst, but I wasn't pleased with several aspects of it, so I arranged it myself for the next time I teach this piece. This arrangement includes just the hymn part of "Jupiter," no introduction, and violins/violas have the melody while the cellos/basses have the harmony. It's transposed to G Major, so low second fingers are needed, as well as E string notes for the violin (I put viola down an octave in those spots). There are a few slurs for the upper strings and a few hooked bowings for the lower strings. I did switch the original dotted eighths/sixteenths to even eighth notes, made the harmony part all arco instead of pizz., then arco, and I added some bow lifts that would not be in the original melody just to help students who might need an extra spot to regroup in case they get lost.
Sheet music (all PDFs):
Audio (WAV files) to preview or for students to play along with to practice:
Selected YouTube links:
- Chicago Symphony Orchestra
- BBC Orchestra with 2-piano score to follow along with
- National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain
Enjoy!
