Gravitas: Score
By Soon Hee Newbold
Grade: 3
Item: 00-PR-0007494
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Description
A grand opening or closing piece for your next concert, Gravitas is a powerful work celebrating strength, beauty, and the journey that shapes us. Highly cinematic and inspirational, Soon Hee Newbold's music includes soaring lines that will take your group to the next level as the adrenaline rushes in! (4:15)
Don't just read it, hear it, play along with it, and watch your students grow with it. In MakeMusic Cloud, Gravitas: Score comes alive with professional accompaniment, adjustable tempo, and built-in practice tools that turn solo practice into real progress.
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Additional Details
Series:
MakeMusic Full Orchestra
Publisher:
MakeMusic Publications
SKU:
00-PR-0007494
More about this title
About the Composer: Soon Hee Newbold
Soon Hee Newbold's compositional voice draws from a rich background in cross-cultural musical expression. Beginning formal training at five on piano and violin at seven, she went on to perform as a concert artist with professional ensembles internationally before establishing herself as a prolific composer whose works appear on stages from Carnegie Hall to the Kennedy Center to the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic.
Newbold's music reaches ensembles across all levels, from professional symphonies to beginning elementary groups. Her experience as a guest clinician and conductor throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia has shaped her deep understanding of what different orchestras need to grow. Beyond concert music, she has contributed to film and recording projects in Hollywood, bringing her cinematic sensibility to all her work.
Why we love this
Newbold has written a piece that feels expansive without demanding technical wizardry at Grade 3, which is surprisingly rare. The cinematic quality means your orchestra will sound and feel significantly larger than it is, and the soaring melodic lines give every section something memorable to play rather than filler parts. Gravitas works equally well opening a concert or bringing one home, making it a genuinely flexible programming choice.
What to expect
Gravitas unfolds with the sweep of a film score, all forward momentum and emotional clarity. The orchestration creates moments of beauty and introspection alongside passages where the full ensemble surges with unguarded strength and celebration.
Who it's for
Full orchestra programs at the intermediate level, whether you're preparing for festival competition or programming a concert that needs a strong signature piece. This works for orchestras with established instrumentation across all standard sections and for directors who want their students to experience writing that feels both accessible and genuinely ambitious.
How to get the most out of it
- Shape the opening with restraint and clarity so the ensemble can build momentum naturally as energy increases through the middle section.
- Balance the soaring lines against the harmonic foundation; resist the urge to let melody players rush ahead of the rhythmic pulse.
- Use the four-minute-plus runtime to let climaxes breathe and sustain rather than pushing through them. The piece builds its power through patience.
- Attend to dynamic contrast between sections so the cinematic arc remains clear from the audience's perspective.
How to use it
Open your concert with this piece to establish command of the stage and announce that your orchestra is ready to engage the audience. Alternatively, place it as your closing number to leave listeners with an impression of unity and accomplishment. The four-minute duration and high energy make it ideal for festival or contest programs where you need maximum impact in limited time.
Skills your students will build
- Sustaining long melodic lines across phrase changes
- Building and releasing dynamic tension at the ensemble level
- Balancing tutti textures where multiple sections carry equal musical weight
- Responding to cinematic pacing and emotional arc in contemporary orchestral writing