Odyssey: Concert Band Conductor Score & Parts

Marlatt solves a real programming challenge: you need a piece that holds a full concert band together while freeing your advanced players to stretch. The three-movement structure gives the piece architectural weight without demanding maturity across the entire ensemble, and the optional advanced parts mean you're not compromising the experience for either end of your section.

The piece unfolds like a voyage itself: mysterious and searching at first, building momentum and excitement as adventure unfolds, then settling into reflection and homecoming. Marlatt captures the epic atmosphere of Homer's source through harmonic color and orchestral gesture rather than complexity, making the storytelling musical rather than programmatic.

Concert bands working at the grade 1.5 level who have a handful of advanced players in their flute, clarinet, alto sax, and trumpet sections. It's ideal for groups that want to program something with narrative scope and genuine musical interest without abandoning accessibility.

• Assign advanced parts selectively. Listen to which players can sustain the added rhythmic complexity and control dynamic shifts independently. The advanced flute, clarinet, alto sax, and trumpet parts are designed to layer on top of the grade 1.5 foundation, so players need security in their fundamentals first.
• Shape the three movements as distinct emotional territories. Map out where tension builds and releases across the form so the journey of Odysseus feels earned rather than episodic.
• Balance the standard and advanced parts in rehearsal by doubling the grade 1.5 lines with your strongest players when teaching the basic shape, then peel them away once the foundation is solid.

This works beautifully as a concert centerpiece that showcases your group's range. Program it alongside shorter, more straightforward openers to let Odyssey anchor the middle of your concert, where audiences expect something with weight. Its three-movement design also makes it strong enough to carry a thematic program around mythology or adventure.

• Reading and sustaining contrasting musical characters across multiple movements
• Balance and blend between advanced and foundational parts within the same section
• Dynamic control and phrasing at the grade 1.5 level
• Extended range and technical facility (for advanced part players in flute, clarinet, alto saxophone, and trumpet)
• Ensemble listening across varying levels of technical demand