A great lyrical piece for an assesment program!
 
While this piece is lyrical in nature, the accompaniment parts should have a little more space between the 8th notes (when compared to the melody) during the louder sections, creating a bit of drive behind the flowing theme. For example, the 1st violin at m.54-56 should be very connected, but the 2nd/cello/bass parts should be slightly more separated and defined. There are many great opportunities for the violas to demonstrate the rich harmonies and countermelodies that are possible with the C string, but watch out for those F#’s! ;-) The double bass has a beautiful melody at m.27, but a “bass on cello” part is included for groups with few or no bassists.