Pieces for a motley crew (ensemble)

[genericguy]

Hi,
As part of Music class at school, we are assessed on group performances. However, there is quite a wide range of instruments (as whoever is in the class must play), and it is often hard to find the right material.
Luckily, we split the group up, so all the 'classical' instruments are together with a soprano.
The musicians are a violinist (me), double bassist, soprano, guitarist (or mandolin), clarinettist and optionally a trumpet.

Can anyone thing of a suitable song/piece for such a strange mixture of instruments, or even one that could be rearranged?
Thanks!

[sbeckmesser]

With a singer, a flute and a guitarist, you are strangely close to being able to perform Pierre Boulez' first masterpiece Le marteau sans maître, which requires an alto singer, alto flute, guitar, vibraphone, xylorimba, percussion and viola. But it's an extrordinarily difficult piece as it stands, without having to arrange it for your ensemble, which would disturb the composers exquisitely chosen sonorities. You can't re-orchestrate the percussion, since a gong is vital to the effect of the piece near the end. But if you could pull it off, I'd graduate you summa cum laude.

--Sixtus

[steltz]

Cherubini's Ave Maria, which was originally soprano, clarinet, strings, could be made to do, although not with the trumpet.

IMSLP has a piano score, which you could arrange back to something close to the original -- the clarinet part is actually the melody in the top line of the piano. The violin could take the next top line (and the top line when the piano doesn't have the melody), the double bass the bottom line, and you would have to arrange the inner voices into the guitar part.

Might be a nice arrangement! Good luck.