Scoring idea for Wind Band

This is my preliminary orchestration for the introduction of a piece I'm writing for my schools Wind Philharmonic.

There are a few things I want to change. I want to take out the tenuto markings in mm. 1, 3, and 5. I also want to add dynamics to m. 9.

There's other stuff. My main concern is the horns starting so high, but it seems like it can't be avoided.

I don't have all the instruments on the first page because it made the score too small.

Any thoughts are appreciated. This may or may not be similar to the final version. My ideas are to score several different version and have them read so I can have some sort of idea.

Introduction I.pdf

Introduction I.mid

I don't think the horns starting off that high will be too much of a problem. It's main melodic line and it only lasts for a couple measures before you bring them down. You start on an open pitch for them (I'm assuming the score is in concert pitch) so it should be easy to locate. I wish I could make more useful but the sample is rather small. I guess I would say maybe you want to raise the Eb clarinet and the flutes up an octave when they come in. It'll project more over the rest of the band but that decision would really affect the brightness of the passage.

I had thought about moving the Flute and Eb up an octave, but I don't wnat them to stick out. When I have this read though, I will keep it in mind to suggest them taking it up, just to see what it sounds like.

Looks nice so far, just a couple comments that came to mind:

1: I really liked your look on the page with the fonts and presentation (obviously some overlaps needs to be polished for publication, but otherwise great look)

2: If I am not mistaken the Cornets appear before the Trumpets in score order.

3: The Tymp. rolls I do not think require a tie if they are notated as rolled (check on this)

4: I assume the whole score is in C and not yet transposed; therefore the First Trumpet Parts seem quite challenging (I hope they're good players), especially with the higher notes at the end.

5: Finally, as a Trumpet player myself, I have typically noticed that the Cornet parts (if there are also trumpet parts) are more active melodically than the Trumpet parts (which serve more a rhythmic function). In this regard, typically there are Cornets 1, 2 & 3 and Trumpets 1 & 2, the reverse of what you have here. I find it odd the Cornets do not play as much as the Trumpets. Remember, the Cornet has a slightly sweeter sound than the Trumpets and this is why traditionally it has been used more as a melodic instrument. Will these players actually use Cornets or will they—as is commonly done—simply use trumpets regardless?

Anyway, hope my comments help.

Good Luck with it!

I was wondering about the cornets too. He obviously would know the instrumentation of his school's band better than we would, but if you don't actually have cornets it seems pointless to write for them. I understand that a lot traditional wind band writing has cornet parts, but it's a archaic practice. The only time I've seen a cornet be used on a cornet part, it was simply because that particular player used a cornet for everything. (It was a old instrument that was in his family for a while or something like that.)

I'm not sure. I wrote that in to see how it sounds. I've not had anything read yet for band, and I figure it's better to hear something than not.

I know on some pieces we've performed, we've had trumpets and cornets. Whether they actually used cornets I'm not sure, but I know there were cornet parts.

I never bother with Cornet/Trumpet parts. The trumpet players never play it on cornet, so why bother? It's an excuse to have more trumpet players in the ensemble.

If you truly need 5 separate trumpet parts, do Trumpet 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5.