This is my harmony arrangement of 'Planxty Hewlett' written by the Irish harper and composer Turlough o'Carolan.
Many of O'Carolan's compositions are "planxties" - this word was popularised (possibly even invented) by Carolan as a prefix for tunes. People's ideas of what it means range from simply "a type of harp tune", a tune written for someone, to - more specifically - a tune written as a toast to someone, usually a host. Carolan made his living travelling around rich people's houses and writing tunes for them, so I like to go with the last definition.
I've made lots of arrangements for violin trio, and this new arrangement extends that idea, as it's in four parts. You can still use this arrangement to play in a violin duet or trio, as with my other arrangements, but this one is a bit more versatile as it also has a cello part, and the third violin part could be played on a viola - which means it could be played by a string quartet, or violin and cello duet, violin and viola duet, or any combination in between.
I've also included chords on the score, as with my other arrangements, but in this one I haven't recorded them on the piano like I normally do as I think the harmonies can be heard more clearly without it, now there's a cello laying down the bass line.
The scores you'll get with this download are:
* Violin trio, plus cello
* Violin trio, plus the cello part transposed up an octave and in alto clef for viola
* Regular string quartet - two violins, viola and cello
Between them these scores should cover most possibilities in a string group, but if you do need another version of this score just get in touch via
www.georgianettleton.com/contact.php and let me know.
You can browse a directory of my other celtic string arrangements at
www.georgianettleton.com/celtic-sheet-music.php
released May 21, 2015