Stringosaurus (Keith Sharp) for String Orchestra

This score is a delightful and imaginative piece designed for younger players. It takes whispers of inspiration from Arthur Conan Doyle’s book “The Lost World” and Henry Mancini’s “Baby Elephant Walk.” However, instead of depicting a playful elephant, it evokes the image of a lumbering prehistoric creature! The central theme features a heavy, repeated quaver motive that remains memorable, punctuated by low, offbeat crotchets. These musical ideas are shared among the sections of the orchestra. The Violin 3 and Viola parts are identical. The violoncello part explores a chromatic movement from B flat to B natural in an ostinato figure that unites the piece. While conceived steadily with a rich tonal quality, the composition could also be performed at a brighter tempo, providing quick study fun for slightly more advanced students. (1:30)

Creeping to the side, we peered over the rocks, and about a hundred yards from our position were…

“What will they say in England about this?
They will claim you are an infernal liar and a scientific charlatan, just as you and others have said about me.
In the face of photographs?
Faked, Summerlee, clumsily faked!” (Extract from “The Lost World,” Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1912)