On the Rising Winds: Concert Band Conductor Score & Parts

Smith crafts an unusually specific theatrical arc here, and Grade 2 band directors rarely find atmospheric music this coherent without sacrificing playability. The piece actually rewards attention to dynamics and phrasing rather than asking students to execute technically impossible gestures, which means your young players can focus on expression and storytelling.

The opening settles you into quiet countryside, almost holding your breath. When flight begins, the music lifts with genuine buoyancy, spreading wings slowly across the band until the full ensemble carries you aloft.

Grade 2 ensembles building confidence in lyrical playing and sectional independence. Teachers seeking contest or festival material that tells a genuine story without excessive technical demands.

• Balance the opening winds carefully; the mystery lives in hearing each voice emerge from nothing rather than drowning early voices in later additions.
• Shape the ascent as literal musical movement: let the phrase crests arrive noticeably higher each cycle, as if the aircraft is actually gaining altitude.
• Trust the silence and sparse scoring in the introduction rather than rushing to fill it. Empty space is part of the image.

Schedule this as a concert opener to establish mood and focus, or pair it with a faster, more energetic work to show your ensemble's dynamic range. At 4:10, it works as a standalone feature or as a compelling moment before intermission.

• Shaping phrases through dynamic control and gradual intensity
• Ensemble balance in sparse, transparent textures
• Interpreting musical imagery and translating it to performance choices
• Sustaining soft dynamics without loss of pitch support