Ungar's Ashokan Farewell is one of two Popular arrangements for intermediate string ensemble included in Richard Young's Comprehensive String Pedagogy & Curriculum. A portion of the proceeds of sales for all CSPC music goes to support free music education at The People's Music School.

Since CSPC was originally designed for "sistema-inspired" projects in South America, a number of "popular" Latin American pieces are included. But since the need for these materials also exists in North America, this example of American folk music is offered as well. Ashokan Farewell has been a longtime favorite among those who live near the Ashokan reservoir in New York's Catskill Mountains, not far from where the 1969 Woodstock Festival took place. Composed by Jay Ungar, a prominent local "fiddler," it gained worldwide attention when it was featured in the Ken Burns television series on the American Civil War.
Every piece we explore should be played in a style that is appropriate for that genre. For example, a "Mozart style" is altogether different from a "Tchaikovsky style." And even though the bambuco, cumbia, and tango may sound similar to uninitiated listeners, each has its own unique flavor. Similarly, North American folk music sounds very different depending on the region. For example, Nashville's "country music" is not at all like that from Appalachia. And the sound that's right for square-dance fiddlin' in the American Midwest doesn't work for Cajun fiddle tunes from the Bayou.
-Richard Young

Full program notes are included with the score. There are fingerings and bowings in all the string parts of every one of CSPC's pieces. These "cooked-in" technical solutions target the particular levels of the students. They are not just pragmatic but "musical."

Please note that due to a loss of source files, the PDF files of the music have been generated from scanned copies of printed parts. While every effort has been made to produce high quality parts, the limitations of scanning will result in some degradation of print quality.