The Valley of the Kings: Brass Choir Score & Parts

Marlatt captures the drama of ancient Egypt without requiring advanced technique from your ensemble. The piece builds intensity gradually, which means younger brass players can sustain focus and feel the narrative arc rather than scrambling through difficult passages. It's rewarding both to play and to hear.

The piece draws you across a desert landscape, beginning with curiosity and gradually building into something powerful and ceremonial. Ancient percussion shadows the brass ensemble, transforming a simple melodic journey into an immersive historical experience that feels both intimate and grand.

Brass choirs at the middle school through early high school level will find this piece within comfortable reach. It works equally well for community brass ensembles, church brass groups, or academy brass choirs seeking concert material that engages players and audiences alike.

• Let the opening sections breathe with space between phrases; the mystery comes from restraint before the drums intensify.
• Balance the inner voices (horn and trombone parts) carefully so they support the melodic line without overshadowing it.
• Coordinate dynamics across all five voices as the piece builds; even a half-measure of uneven crescendo will flatten the dramatic curve.
• Anchor the rhythm section (tuba) solidly on beats 1 and 3 once the percussion enters to establish the driving pulse.

This works beautifully in a concert program exploring world cultures or historical themes. Program it alongside other descriptive works to create a narrative arc, or pair it with a contrasting lighter piece to show your ensemble's range. It also serves well as a concert opener that captures immediate audience attention.

• Building and controlling dynamic intensity across multiple phrases
• Sustaining open-position brass tone across a range of dynamics
• Listening to and balancing inner harmonic voices
• Responding to percussion cues and maintaining ensemble cohesion with added percussion parts