Joraalsa Suite

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 :)