About Prince String Lists

Another contributing factor to my publication of these lists was the lack of enthusiasm I found online for this type of music. Other than IMSLP (which often has little to no information on many pieces), there are not many string orchestra dedicated repertoire lists. The good ones that do exist (such as Gen Gaku) are either automated and difficult to use effectively or are lists by commercial parties hoping to profit. Even on sites where there are a great number of string orchestra resources, it can be hard to glean meaningful information without spending significant contributions of time. To remedy this, the Prince String Lists aim to have easy access to recordings or difficulty levels of pieces along with a myriad of other information (although regrettably there is little to no information on publishers/scores as some pieces are published through multiple venues; any concerns about where to find scores on the personal list can be sent to me. Due to the sizeable nature of the full list, scores there will likely be more difficult to locate).

Difficulty ratings are often solely based on my opinion (sometimes I evaluate the piece, or I take the given piece difficulty from a composer), and they can vary from “real” ratings greatly. The purpose of difficulty ratings are not to scare off potential orchestras but rather to provide an easy and relative difficulty scale for filtering repertoire or getting a general sense of a piece’s difficulty. I use the relatively “traditional” rating system of .5-6, however the .5-6 scale is entirely relative to itself. This is because there are no official difficulty rating organizations and most pieces that are rated by their composers or organizations are also entirely relative to their own ratings and are thus not easily transferable between composers/organizations (ex: “The Fire Within” being rated a 6, with “Pursued” being rated a 4 yet being similarly difficult). The issue of unstandardized difficulty ratings has been a long-time frustration of mine, and by rating them myself with my own standards, I feel I have accurately placed these pieces within reason and with respect to each other. To do this, I have listened to every work on the personal list at least 3 times and every work (with a recording) on the full list at least once. That being said, these difficulty ratings can be slightly inconsistent, especially as pieces increase with difficulty (both in musicianship and technique). It is also important to note that I am a violinist and while I try to base my ratings based off the full piece, I likely misgrade the difficulty level of some lower string's parts in a few pieces, especially when a score is not freely available. That being said these difficulty ratings should be taken with a heavy grain of salt.

Difficulty ratings are cumulative and are assessments of the whole piece, this means that some movements may be easier than the entire piece’s rating as a whole or vice versa (same goes for individual parts).

Difficulty ratings for solo instruments with orchestra are rated for the orchestra’s difficulty, the difficulty of the soloist’s part is not taken into consideration.

I am open to changing difficulty ratings based on input as I have not played the majority of these pieces, however I will prioritize drastic changes over .5 or small grade differences as those can be highly opinionated.

At the end of the day, techniques or works that are hard for one orchestra, might not be as difficult for another. I do not utilize a model or single qualification for difficulty ratings; they are all treated holistically (if not taken from the composer), and they are all relative to each other.

Grade .5 -1: Beginning orchestra for true beginners, often utilized in first-third year orchestras where most if not all of the players are new.

Grade 2: Beginning orchestra for beginners, often utilized in elementary, middle, and early learning orchestras, this is where new, more advanced techniques are developed.

Grade 3: This is for intermediate orchestras representing both distinguished middle school and high school programs. The music in grade 3 often serves as an introduction to the 3rd position for violins, and more difficult rhythms, tempi, key signatures and notes.

Grade 4: This is for intermediate orchestras representing both distinguished middle school and high school programs as well as appropriate repertoire for many community orchestras. This area is usually where the break between educational string orchestra music and “professional” string orchestra music happens, with many pieces at this point experimenting with 3rd and 5th positions for violins, difficult passages for many instruments, and additional techniques such as artificial harmonics.

Grade 5: This is for advanced orchestras representing the very talented middle school and advanced high school programs as well as being appropriate for many community and professional orchestras, music in this category can be very challenging including a variety of difficult techniques, rhythms, and positions for all instruments.

Grade 5.5:  It is often hard to give pieces especially at the higher difficulty single difficulty ratings due to the fact that for different players and orchestras the pieces can have entirely different reasons to be difficult. 5-5.5, 5.5, and 5.5-6 are all common listed difficulties for the repertoire list as the area from 5+ starts getting much more difficult to rate (especially without scores). These ratings each represent distinct steps up from each other, although they can be within similar difficulty of each other and the range is provided to account for that fact. Grade 5.5 is typically where national-calibre high school orchestras, collegiate orchestras, and professional orchestras all gather repertoire from. 

Grade 6: Grade 6 is reserved almost exclusively for collegiate and professional orchestras. Grade 6 repertoire is very difficult and challenging even to the best of orchestras.

Grade 6+: Grade 6+ contains the most difficult pieces within string orchestra repertoire, while there could likely be more grades above this, the 6+ designation encapsulates the fact that the piece will be difficult for any orchestra that plays it, even professional ones. Currently only 5 pieces on the personal list hold this difficulty.

6+:

Sven-Turr - Flamma

Adams - Shaker Loops

6-6+:

Strauss - Metamorphosen for 23 Strings

Takemitsu - Requiem

6:

Shostakovich arr. Drew - Chamber Symphony

Giannini - Concerto Grosso

5.5-6:
Montgomery - Strum

Schoenberg - Suite for Strings

5.5:

Tchaikovsky - Serenade for Strings

Barber - Adagio for Strings

5-5.5:

Parry - An English Suite

Copland - Hoedown (arr. String Orchestra)

5:

Bloch - Concerto Grosso No. 1 (First Movement)

Hindemith - 5 pieces for String Orchestra

4.5:

Chin - In the Dreams of Zhou

Dello Joio - 3 Dances

4:

Meyer - Century One Tusonic

Silva - Adventure on Bainbridge Island

3:

Del Borgo - Arlington Sketches

Collins - Tangled Veils

2:

Spata - Archaic Voices

1:

Meyer - Dragonhunter

Any other questions?

📩 Contact me at: mtptrax@gmail.com