Blue Ribbon Solemnity

Category: Strings

String Orchestra

Level: Very Easy/Easy
Duration: 3:30

Copyright © 2022 Juan G. García

PDF – Sheet Music, Page 1

“Blue Ribbon Solemnity” was finished in October of 2009. It was composed to celebrate the naming of the Lakeville Elementary School a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence the U.S. Department of Education’s highest award.

I dedicated this piece to Barbara Raber, principal of the school at the time, and to everyone at the Lakeville Elementary School where I had been working since 2001.

This piece was composed with the intention that it would be performed by an elementary school orchestra so it began as a very easy piece to play. It is based on the D Major scale and is in ABA form.

The more challenging part in contrast is the middle B section. The B section is written in a polyphonic style rather than in rhythmic unison like the A sections are. The B section represents the most difficult part for live performance since each line is independent in polyphonic writing. It was suggested by Barbara Raber that both 4th & 5th graders can play the easier A sections together but just the better 5th grade players perform the more difficult middle B section. That was an excellent suggestion and that is how it was performed at the following Flag Day in June of 2010.