Holiday Emblem: 3rd B-flat Clarinet
Arr. Robert W. Smith
Grade: 3 (Medium Easy)
Item: 00-PC-0001976_C3
$3.00
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Description
Robert W. Smith combines NATIONAL EMBLEM with all of your holiday favorites. 'Tis a classy musical recipe with a great march and a charming holiday topping. Wonderfully entertaining!
Don't just read it, hear it, play along with it, and watch your students grow with it. In MakeMusic Cloud, Holiday Emblem: 3rd B-flat Clarinet 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:
Pop Concert Band
Publisher:
Alfred Music
Page Count:
256
SKU:
00-PC-0001976_C3
More about this title
About the Arranger: Robert W. Smith
Robert W. Smith stands among the most recorded and performed composers of band and orchestral music in contemporary America. His catalog exceeds 400 published works, the majority released through Alfred Music, and his compositions have traveled worldwide to concert halls, festivals, and performance venues across North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. Smith earned his Bachelor of Music Education from Troy State University in Alabama and his Master of Music from the University of Miami, training that shaped both his compositional voice and his work as a conductor and clinician.
Beyond the concert hall, Smith's music has appeared in contexts ranging from Olympic Games broadcasts to the opening of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade telecast, from presidential ceremonies in Japan to Opening Day festivities at Dodger Stadium. His symphonies, The Divine Comedy and The Odyssey, and his works for developing ensembles such as The Tempest have become repertoire standards. His arrangements and original compositions balance accessibility with musical substance, a quality that has made his work indispensable to bands at all levels.
Why we love this
Smith's gift for combining familiar melodies with strong structural logic shines here. He pairs the unmistakable march energy of National Emblem with holiday standards in a way that feels organic rather than forced, giving your band a piece that works equally well at holiday concerts or in-season programming. The Grade 3 scoring is genuinely playable for developing ensembles without sacrificing the brilliance audiences expect from a Smith arrangement.
What to expect
Festive sophistication wrapped in a march. The National Emblem backbone gives the arrangement structural confidence and forward motion, while the holiday material settles in with warmth and charm. The piece feels celebratory without becoming saccharine, energetic without losing its holiday spirit.
Who it's for
Directors programming holiday concerts who want a piece that goes beyond the typical seasonal arrangement, bringing sophistication and performance polish to a developing band. Students gain experience navigating two distinct musical characters within a single piece while building confidence in a grade-accessible work that still challenges musicianship.
How to get the most out of it
- Balance the march theme against the holiday material by maintaining crisp articulation in the National Emblem sections while allowing the holiday passages to breathe with warmth and legato phrasing.
- Lock the tempo between the two thematic sections; use rehearsal marks to clarify transitions and prevent the piece from sagging where the character changes.
- Feature your principal woodwinds and brass players in the holiday melody lines; Smith's voicing creates natural solo moments that reward strong section leaders.
- Shape dynamic swells around the harmonic progressions of the holiday material rather than hitting every marked dynamic change; let the underlying harmony guide your expressive choices.
How to use it
Program this as a standalone concert opener or closer during your winter concert, where its blend of march energy and holiday warmth sets a welcoming tone. It works equally well as a seasonal concert feature or as part of a longer concert pairing it with contrasting holiday literature that's either more traditional or more contemporary.
Skills your students will build
- Transitioning between contrasting tempos and characters within a single piece
- Balancing march-style articulation with legato holiday phrasing
- Reading and responding to frequent dynamic changes
- Ensemble balance when melody passes between sections
- Maintaining intonation during sustained harmonic passages typical of holiday material