All the Pretty Little Horses: Concert Band Conductor Score & Parts

Boysen's setting captures the tender, intimate quality of this lullaby without oversimplifying it. The lyrical texture gives your band a chance to work on sustained singing tone and subtle dynamic control, and the Grade 3.5 difficulty makes it genuinely achievable for developing ensembles without sacrificing musical substance.

A quiet moment of repose. The piece settles into a gentle, almost hypnotic flow, with warm harmonic colors that suggest rocking motion without ever becoming maudlin. There's a tenderness here rooted in the song's origins as a lullaby meant to comfort.

This arrangement works perfectly for concert bands at the Grade 3-4 level who need a piece that sounds more advanced than its technical demands suggest. It's ideal for bands seeking genuine lyricism and a chance to develop musicality, tone production, and phrase awareness.

• Shape long phrases from your first beats, resisting the impulse to let sustained sections go static. This lullaby lives in its gentle contour, not in holding notes.
• Balance inner voices carefully so the melody never disappears, even when it's shared across multiple sections. Conduct with attention to which instrument should lead in each moment.
• Keep the tempo steady but unhurried. The recording (3:25) gives you a reference point; use it to establish how slowly you can move while still maintaining forward motion.
• Pay particular attention to cutoffs at phrase endings. Clean ensemble articulation on releases becomes more noticeable at soft dynamics, so rehearse those moments deliberately.

Program this as a gentle centerpiece in a concert that moves between contrasting energies. It pairs naturally with more rhythmic or energetic contemporary pieces, offering your audience a chance to reset while your band demonstrates their capacity for beautiful, sustained playing. It also works beautifully in a concert focused on American roots and folk traditions.

• Sustaining long phrases with consistent breath support and tone quality
• Dynamic control and playing expressively at soft volumes
• Listening to inner voices and maintaining balance in thin textures
• Precise ensemble articulation on phrase endings
• Reading and executing rubato and expressive tempo markings