Chroma: Concert Band Conductor Score & Parts

Strommen builds a concert work that refuses to settle into one mood or idiom. The chromatic language and tone-row gestures create harmonic sophistication without sacrificing the clear architecture a Grade 3.5 ensemble needs, while the stylistic shifts between jazz, whimsy, and drama give your students genuine interpretive choices rather than a single character to sustain.

A kaleidoscopic journey that keeps listeners and performers guessing what comes next. One moment the harmonies shimmer with chromatic color and tone-row ambiguity; the next, a playful carnival bursts through with bright orchestration and bounce. When the dramatic sections arrive, the weight and intensity feel earned against the lighter material surrounding them.

Band directors programming a concert or festival performance who want Grade 3.5 musicians to experience genuine style diversity and harmonic sophistication in a single work. The piece rewards ensembles with attentive brass and woodwind sections capable of executing both delicate chromatic writing and bold dramatic statements.

• Establish clarity around the tone-row passages early in rehearsal; spend sectional time on intonation in chromatic lines where the harmonic ground shifts beneath scalar motion.
• Shape the jazz sections with rhythmic freedom in the rhythm section while keeping ensemble cohesion through conductor-led subdivision; contrast this release against the tighter, more vertical dramatic passages.
• Allow the playful, circus-like material to breathe with slight tempo flexibility and dynamic peaks; this material thrives when musicians lean into character rather than play it safe.

Open a concert with this title to set an adventurous tone, or program it in the second half when your ensemble has warmed into secure ensemble playing. The stylistic variety makes it an effective festival selection that showcases musicianship across multiple idioms without requiring virtuosity beyond Grade 3.5 capability.

• Chromatic intonation and harmonic listening in non-functional contexts
• Jazz articulation and rhythmic flexibility in swing sections
• Dynamic contrast and character projection across multiple musical styles
• Ensemble balance in complex harmonic textures
• Stylistic interpretation and musical decision-making