Shallow (from A Star Is Born): Full Orchestra Conductor Score & Parts

Victor López's orchestration captures the song's cinematic emotional core without overshadowing the melody, making it accessible for orchestras at this level while still delivering the dramatic payoff audiences expect. The flexibility to perform with strings and piano or full instrumentation means you're not locked into a single instrumentation choice. Programming a contemporary Oscar-winning song alongside traditional concert fare shows students that orchestral writing didn't stop in the 19th century.

Vulnerable and building. The piece starts with restraint and emotional honesty, gradually swelling as the stakes rise. It's the kind of arrangement that makes a concert hall lean in and listen.

Orchestras looking to include contemporary concert music without compromising musical substance. Directors who want their students to experience a Grammy and Oscar-winning work at a manageable technical level.

• Balance the vocal line (or first violin if instrumental) so it sits above the accompaniment without the orchestra drowning it out. This isn't a thick symphonic texture; it's intimate.
• Take time with the opening. The slow burn is the point. Resist the urge to push forward in the first half.
• Pay attention to the dynamic shape in the climactic sections. Victor López has written intentional peaks and valleys; honor them rather than playing the big moments uniformly loud.
• If using the optional vocal part, give the singer space to breathe and phrase naturally. The orchestra should follow their phrasing, not lock rigidly to clicks.

This works as a bridge piece between classical and popular repertoire on a concert, or as a finale if you want to end on emotional resonance rather than virtuosic flash. Pairing it with a classical ballad (like a movement from a Baroque concerto) creates an interesting conversation about how different eras approach lyricism.

• Sustaining long-line melody without rhythmic propulsion
• Balancing exposed orchestration (small ensemble sections within the larger score)
• Responding to emotional content through dynamic and tempo flexibility
• Managing ensemble texture when the full orchestra enters after sparse writing
• Blend and intonation in string-heavy passages