Character Suites for strings

Character Suites Volume 1 contains two suites: The Turlough Suite and the Sunday Suite

The Turlough Suite describes a cloudy, rainy day in the West of Ireland. In the first movement, threatening clouds gather — since the piece is written for young ensembles with only basic technical skills, this is often their first encounter with dissonance — before a gentle rain follows.
The second movement, "After the Rain," describes the woodland floor once the rain has passed. We often talk about that particular fresh smell and how to translate it into sound. For the syncopated rhythms, we make up practice lyrics to clap and sing — the first violins, for instance, use: "Drip drop, the rain has gone, now all the clouds are moving on."
The third movement follows a curious little hedgehog coming along, and the last movement describes an evening at the turlough, which is a unique type of disappearing lake found mostly in the limestone areas of Ireland, west of the River Shannon. The opening of this final movement can be interpreted as fog.

The Sunday Suite follows a Sunday from the early morning stroll to the Lullaby. Snack time is full of fun — maybe there's some sibling squabbling over favourite treats. Sunday dinner, by contrast, is quite formal, perhaps with grandparents present. At the end of the dinner, dessert is served and everything lightens up again. The Lullaby is a gentle ending to a busy day. As with the other suites, these are just suggestions — players are welcome to shape their own version of the day.

The second volume of the Character Suites turns to nature — trees and flowers brought to life in music, from the mighty oak and the flexible willow to the colourful tulips and delicate snowdrops. These suites are just as loved by orchestras as by quartets.

The first of the two nature suites is all about flowers. The snowdrops sleep beneath a coat of snow until their time comes, breaking through the icy blanket. The daffodils dance in the gentle breeze, the tulips bring a happy burst of colour, and in the water lilies, you can hear the water gently flowing throughout. This last movement also featured in a theatre play about the Irish legend of the Salmon of Wisdom.

In the second nature suite, trees are depicted in short, characteristic movements. The old oak has been especially popular with orchestras — through simple double-stopping, even a small ensemble can produce a sound as impressive and mighty as the tree itself. The weeping willow, with its graceful, drooping branches, opens with a harmonic build-up before the second part challenges players with intricate counting. The maple, ever-changing through the seasons, reveals its autumn colours in the second part of the piece — a shift you can hear as much as imagine. And the birch, always full of surprises with its distinctive bark and quiet versatility, rounds out the set. We love talking with our students about these trees while we work on the pieces, and letting them discover for themselves how nature translates into music.

The third junior volume takes us to a café full of treats, and to a land of dreams called Fiánia.

The Café Suite opens with Morning Tea, a movement many junior quartets have taken as their very first step into chamber music. It has independent parts right from the start, a wonderful crescendo through the middle, and even a Da Capo and Coda — a lot to master, but what a joy when it all comes together! Latte and Scone introduces players to a 3/4 metre, and the opening rhythm can be practiced simply by saying, or singing, the words "Latte and Scone." Berry Crumble is the most demanding of the four movements, with its ostinatos and accents, while Hot Chocolate brings the suite to a gentle close, once again in 3/4.

Fiánia is a suite full of striking melodies — the kind that anyone who plays or hears them tends to hum for days after. The first movement is often used on its own for young quartets or orchestras, as it's exciting and fun, yet manageable with very basic technique. The cello part uses open strings only, and other instruments can add open-string-only parts too, which is why it has become so popular for collaborative projects — bringing together different levels, in big and even very big groups, at festivals or courses.
The intro and outro build from nothing to a strong forte within six bars of syncopated rhythms, and when well played, the effect of that syncopated crescendo is incredible. We use words to help practice the intro/outro rhythm: "All together now, all together now, all together now, all together now, let us have some fun!" And to learn the first melody in the first violins, we say — or sing — "Let's go to Fiánia, ev'ryone is welcome, let's go to Fiánia, ev'ryone is here!"
Winnie's Waltz gives young players a lovely introduction to the waltz as a dance. In Morning Sun, the lyrical melody moves from part to part, giving players great practice in listening — who has the melody and needs to come through, and who is accompanying and needs to support. Picnic Party is the most demanding of the four movements, and can be taken at a lively speed if the players are up for it. Watch out for the counting at the very end!

This red Volume 4 is a fiery one, full of energy — lively, rhythmically interesting melodies, some of which have been choreographed in different ways by teenage string ensembles in both Ireland and Sweden, and which somehow always stay fresh and exciting. The technical level is a little mixed in this volume: while Showtime and Berlin Bear are accessible for junior orchestras, the other movements call for a more intermediate to advanced playing level to really do them justice.

Suite of the Fair explores different attractions in an amusement park. Young players often enjoy sharing their own amusement park memories here, and after playing through the movements, discussing what each piece might be about. Show Time has often been used as an opener for both orchestra and chamber music concerts. Tired Pony is a melancholy piece, painting the image of an old circus pony — walking the same tiny circle with small kids on its back for decades, all the while dreaming of being wild and free on adventures of its own (which the middle part of the piece explores). We recently heard that this piece was used by a young quartet for a competition in Germany. Star Flyer is a challenge for finger speed, and also introduces sliding fingers and a slow glissando up to the natural harmonic — it has become a firm favourite among more ambitious students. Berlin Bear is a slightly longer, more substantial piece in two parts with a Da Capo. It's often played as a single movement for both quartets and orchestras, as it fits naturally into almost any performance context.

The Joraalsa Suite is one of my personal favourites. Joraalsa Salsa is a hit that lends itself beautifully to memorisation, as it's built on four lively ostinatos, layered in one by one and woven together into an intricate salsa rhythm. To succeed with this one, it needs careful preparation — lots of rhythm training: clapping, walking and clapping, speech choir, sometimes even a sung arrangement. Only once the ostinatos are secure, individually and combined, should the playing begin. Here's the recipe for success:
Rhythm lyrics for the cellists: "Celli have the bassline, it is important, will you listen to us, 'cause celli have the..." (for orchestras that say "cellos" instead of "celli," go with that, of course). The violas (and third violins, who are honorary violas): "(rest) Violas got the rhythm, (rest) violas got the rhythm." The hardest rhythm to manage is in the second violins — here, try the encouraging words: "We áre the best, we áre the best, we áre the best, we áre the best." The first violins also have a syncopated rhythm in their melody, which lends itself to simple words: "We've got the melody, we've got the melody, we've got..." For the breaks (bars 69, 81 and 97), make up words to the rhythm that speak to the players and situation you're working with, to keep everyone engaged.
This salsa has been choreographed and performed in so many ways, contexts and countries — it's well worth the effort it takes!
Tango Tale is another highlight! A dramatic tango where melody crotchet triplets play against straight crotchets in the accompaniment, creating a wonderfully intense effect. For many of our students, this is their first encounter with this particular rhythmic challenge. The melody moves through the voices, and every part is genuinely satisfying to play. Again, a great concert piece — and perfect for dramatic choreography, which has been done numerous times!
Moon Groove is another high-energy piece, challenging players with bow-speed control (the upper strings at the start) and finger speed (the cello part, which opens the whole piece alone). The Winter Waltz is a sweet, very short little waltz that hasn't been performed as often as the other three movements.
And since I'm always asked what "Joraalsa" means: I simply wrote this suite for a young quartet whose name was formed from the first two letters of each player's name — JOshua, RAsmus, ALanna, SArah. Not that mysterious, really :)

Volume 5 contains two exciting suites, full of imaginative storytelling. The first, Matilda's Kitchen Suite, explores a most beautiful kitchen in a Swedish home in Dalarna, while the second tells the story of a family of birds — from Nesting to Hatching to Feeding, and finally, Spreading their Wings.

In Matilda's Kitchen Suite, we first meet the Kitchen Bench — homely, but solid, and a good place for hanging out, sharing meals and stories with the family. The Giant Clock in this particular kitchen was completely out of proportion — a huge, industrial thing you'd expect to find at a railway station rather than in a cosy kitchen, but that only made it more exciting. In Dreams in a Biscuit Tin, we play with words: drömmar, Swedish for "dreams," are also light and airy biscuits with a hint of vanilla that melt in your mouth. The funkiest biscuit tin in Matilda's kitchen, as it happens, was filled to the brim with these delicious little dreams!
An Iron Stove is a must in any country home, to keep out the chill on wintery days — and I think you can hear the fire sizzling right through this piece.

In the Bird Suite, there's an overarching storyline, but each movement also works as a standalone performance piece. I should add that the first and last movements are noticeably easier and more accessible for junior players than the two middle movements, which demand more technical skill.
In Nesting, a gentle melody in 3/4 metre is passed between the parts at the beginning and the end. The middle section is a little fugue-like and calls for careful counting, before a third section builds powerfully from piano to forte. At the end, we return via Da Capo to close on the gentle opening melody.
Hatching opens with col legno — the players tap with the wood of the bow, mimicking little beaks knocking against the eggshell from the inside. Then the hatching begins, and the youngsters tumble all over the place (I should mention that we happened to be breeding chickens at the time I wrote this piece!). At the end, once all the lively chaos has settled, there's one single col legno knock left — the last chick, still waiting to hatch.
In Feeding, you hear the baby birds competing for their parents' attention, each eager to be fed first. The lower instruments represent the parents arriving to feed the hungry little beaks.
Spread Your Wings was originally written as a kind of blessing for our nephew's christening, and has since been used as a blessing for many other occasions too. It's gentle and beautiful, and very accessible even for younger players — for quartet and orchestra alike.

Volume 6 offers two contrasting suites for intermediate to advanced players. These pieces have even been performed by professional quartets, who loved their lyrical qualities. The Suite of Tales tells four stories, quite literally — each originally based on a children's poem. If you'd like to know more, please email me. The Nova Liturgia Suite is far more abstract, with intense harmonies running throughout, and calls for a good level of bow control and sound production to really do it justice.

Dreamweavers is one of my personal favourites of all. My own quartet has opened several lyrical recitals with this piece. It builds up in dreamy ostinatos, from first violin down to cello, weaving together into a pattern that is at once simple and complex. In Reflection, you can hear water running and an unusual story unfold — I happily leave it up to each group to decide just what that story is. If you'd like to know the poem behind it, get in touch. Bravado is my only piece so far played entirely pizzicato — tricky, but wonderful practice for counting and pizzicato technique alike! Gentle Giant has been a true favourite for over a decade now, both for quartets (especially loved by boys, I've noticed!) and orchestras. Again, feel free to invent your own story — or email me for the poem behind it.

The Nova Liturgia Suite spans four movements, musically connected and mostly performed as a set — though I have heard the Interlude played as a stand-alone piece. The first and last movements may look easy, but they are not: they demand tone and bow-speed control to bring out the tension and expression intended. The Fugue is lively and restless, the Interlude invites unusual, surprising harmonies and rhythms, and the Postlude connects back to the Prelude in character, almost quoting it at the very end.

In Volume 7, we find storytelling for more advanced players. The movements are longer, grouped in sets of three to a suite, each running 7–8 minutes — a format that has become a popular choice for recitals.
The Pink Petal Suite is our signature suite, and the one that gave our company its name. The first movement was inspired by a large carpet of pink petals at Annaghmakerrig Lake in Co. Monaghan, Ireland, one June — it looked as though the petals had formed a magical shadow on the ground. In the second part, ostinatos in the upper instruments and a strong pizzicato solo in the cello suggest a kind of storm — the force that might have brought all those petals down to the ground, a little before their time. Heron in the Rain is such fun to play! Demanding in all the right ways — close your eyes, and you can see that mighty bird standing on its long legs in the pouring rain, and hear it lift its great wings at the end. Dance of the Dragonflies has all the sparkle these magical creatures — so reminiscent of fairies — represent. Enjoy working with this suite!

The Galway Suite is close to my heart, as County Galway has been my home of choice since 2002. Busking has always been a vibrant, vital and respected part of Galway City. Performers of every kind come to entertain and delight the street crowds, and the Galwegians are a generous lot — if they like what they see and hear, they pay. I busked there myself in my twenties, and my children and students still do today. Busking on Shop Street is another piece that lends itself beautifully to memorisation and choreography — my own Sonic Strings ensemble at Coole Music & Arts turned it into a dazzling show performance, with the cellos playing in guitar position at the start. The melody is nicely divided between the parts, and every part has something interesting and challenging to play.
Traffic in Galway City is rather less fun! Rush hour clogs up the whole system, and you can get stuck for what feels like hours. To be honest, Eyre Square isn't even the worst of it — the docks are far worse. But this piece captures the frustration and tension of being stuck in traffic, a problem I think everyone can relate to. And perhaps it's worth remembering: we're never really "stuck in traffic" — we are the traffic.
Galway Market is a musical stroll through one of Ireland's most iconic weekend markets. People come for its medieval roots, its genuine buzz, and the chance to explore local and exotic flavours, crafts and culture. Set in the heart of Galway City, around the beautiful St Nicholas' Collegiate Church, it draws locals and tourists alike. The piece is structured like a rondo, opening with a walking tune that returns after each of the three market stalls we visit musically. By the end — after enjoying a crêpe at the French stall (a section built directly on French café music) — the walking theme returns transformed, lilting now in that French 3/8 metre. This movement has proven especially popular, and is often performed as a stand-alone piece.

Volume 8 turns to the world of mythical beings. Every culture has its own magical creatures and kingdoms of the supernatural, and I've always been fascinated by these characters and their stories — I felt they would translate beautifully into music. There were so many to choose from that narrowing it down was hard, but in the end, I settled on three Celtic creatures and three Nordic beings, forming two rounded suites.

Selkies are mythical creatures who shapeshift between seal and human form, simply by removing or putting on their sealskin. In human form, they're often depicted as strikingly beautiful and seductive — and countless folk tales tell of selkies tricked into marriage, their husbands hiding away their sealskin to keep them on land. But these stories never end happily: a selkie's longing for the sea never truly fades, and the moment they find their sealskin again, they vanish back into the waves.
Glas Gaibhnenn describes a special, bountiful cow that gives endless amounts of milk. The stories around this cow — said to have been stolen from Spain — are many, varied and complex, differing depending on who told them and where. For this piece, I simply focused on the cow itself and her magical powers — happy mooing to the cellists! :)
The púca is a shapeshifter who can bring good fortune or bad, helping or hindering the humans it encounters. It has the power of human speech, and delights in confusing and terrifying people — though it's also been known to offer advice and lead travellers safely away from harm. Most stories depict the púca as mischievous above all: enticed onto its back, a human is in for a wild ride! This movement, marked Furioso, rounds off the suite with high energy.

The second suite turns to Nordic folklore, and I actually had the privilege of writing it hidden away in a small cabin in the woods on the Swedish coast. Näcken, or the Nixie, is one of the more prominent figures in Nordic mythology — a male spirit who enchants humans with his violin-like playing by the water's edge. While some stories present this enchantment as harmless, most end more dramatically: luring humans into wild dances before drawing them down into the depths of the water, never to return. This movement definitely depicts the dramatic version.
The Kvarngubben, or Mill Gnome, was new to me when I discovered him in a book on Nordic mythology — and I liked him instantly, perhaps because I've met so many human versions of him over the years. As I understand it, the Mill Gnome is a bit of a grumpy fellow who just wants to get on with life, his routines and his daily tasks. He wants things done properly, and has no patience for nonsense. In the evenings, once the work is done, he wants to be left alone — and it's said that he turns to music, in particular the violin. Do your work well, take good care of the mill, and give the Mill Gnome his respect and space, and you'll have no trouble with him. But neglect the mill, or disturb the gnome, and it could have serious consequences.
I love that the Mill Gnome so firmly respects his own time off in the evenings, which is why I've included one of my favourite German words in the score markings: Kvarngubben's Feierabend! It marks the moment to stop work for the day and truly celebrate the evening — and what better way to celebrate than with music? :)
Skogsrået is a female creature of the forest. A shapeshifter, she appears as a beautiful woman — though only from the front; from behind, she always betrays a hint of the animal, be it a tail or a hollow back like a tree trunk. She's known to seduce men with her beauty and seemingly friendly nature. Alas, these men are usually led astray, and if they do find their way out of the forest again, something seems to be missing — some say the mistress of the forest has taken their soul.
Interesting fact: Jean Sibelius based his symphonic tone poem "The Wood Nymph" on this very creature.

The first three volumes suit younger players, as well as more mature players with limited technique. Works equally well for string quartet or orchestra.

In the Junior Bundle, you get 24 character pieces in 6 Junior Suites à 4 movements each:

Sunday Suite, Turlough Suite, Flower Suite, Tree Suite, Café Suite, Fiánia Suite

Character Suites volumes 4–6 suit young players with an intermediate level of technique, as well as more mature players. Works equally well for string quartet or orchestra. Some of these pieces have also been used by professional quartets in different contexts.

In the Intermediate Bundle, you get 24 character pieces in 6 suites à 4 movements each:
Suite of the Fair, Joraalsa Suite, Matilda's Kitchen Suite, Bird Suite, Suite of Tales, Nova Liturgia Suite

These four Character Suites need a solid level of technique as well as chamber music/orchestra experience.
They have proven popular for concert performances and competitions with experienced quartets and orchestras in all kinds of contexts and countries.

In the Experienced Players Bundle, you receive 12 character pieces in 4 suites à 3 movements each:
Pink Petal Suite, Galway Suite, Celtic Creatures Suite, Nordic Vaesen Suite

The Complete Bundle of Character Suites Volumes 1-8 contains 16 themed Suites, 60 movements in all.
The first 3 volumes are suitable for junior level, volumes 4-6 are accessible at intermediate level, the last 2 volumes are for experienced players.
All have been played and performed by quartets and orchestras, young and mature musicians and also by professional musicians, often as part of lyrical programs.