The Last Farewell by Roger Whittaker String Orchestra - Digital Sheet Music

SKU: A0.1652242

WARNING: I have only hobbyist experience playing violin, and none of the other strings. CHECK THE "LOOK INSIDE" TO SEE PARTS BEFORE PURCHASE. If you really like the MP3, but there's a problem with the parts or arrangement, you're probably not alone! My e-mail is [email protected], and perhaps I can adjust the parts to accommodate.

This is a Viola feature. The Viola is perfect for imitating Roger's unforgettable voice.

Framing the instantly-recognizable French horn fanfare, the deep polyrhythms of the opening measure, with the soft, high descant of shorebird calls, should transport listeners back to the “Age of Sail”. The subtle, busy quadruple stops in the 2nd violin provide an energetic background as our tune gets underway.

Throughout the piece, I “staggered” the dynamics, imitating the random timings of the swells.

The Intro and First Verse are in E-flat, the original key of the recording, and I was able to reproduce the familiar, short Horn and Piano lines most people will expect to hear. But I wanted to be able to take advantage of the lower strings of the Bass, so, I modulated up half a step at the end of the First Verse.

Verse two starts with the lyrics, “I heard there’s a wicked war a-blazin’…” In that spirit, whether he’s been shipwrecked, or just enduring the privations of war, I created a short, relative minor key, “Tempestuous” section following it. (It could also be a storm, a lovers’ quarrel, or who knows what.)

It ends, desolately, with a cold “stark”, sul pont portion. However, that ominous, relative minor section, “Though death and darkness gather all about me…” warms back up again, on beat 3 of measure 70, with the cozy, ordinario return to the memories of the girl he’s singing to, and her island home. The elapsed time here is about 3 min into the piece, and “seasoning” the sound with this change in bow placement should keep the atmosphere dynamic. The song’s tempo is pretty steady; the mood shouldn’t have to be, I thought.

As he gets closer to England, I included a couple of melodies from British maritime tradition. One, the descending arpeggio in bar 76 is “steady, lad, steady”, from the first section of H.M. Jollies.

Nearing the end of his voyage, everything goes smoothly, and the intro is re-stated. The last measure is a 1st Violin “quasi cadenza”—just an E Major scale—which can be ad-libbed, if so desired.

VIOLA SOLO—the writing incorporates many of Roger’s vocal idioms. Being familiar with his recordings of this piece will help greatly. His rhythms are difficult to transcribe, and, if the soloist is familiar with the recordings, they will see why the odd rhythms are written as they are.

The Bass has two roles: 70s pop/guitar bass, and orchestral-espressivo. Hopefully, articulations will show which one is intended. Apologies for the wide variety, if they don’t make sense; they are required by my notation software to create the sound.