Where the Eagle Soars: 10 Trumpets & Percussion Score & Parts

Marlatt's scoring here demands real musicianship from your ensemble without requiring virtuoso chops. The interplay between flugel soloists and full brass gives you multiple focal points for rehearsal, and the contrast between transparent textures and dense chorale writing rewards careful attention to balance and phrasing.

The piece opens with an almost haunting simplicity, as though three voices are calling across a vast landscape. It gradually builds into moments of full, sonorous warmth before pulling back again, creating a journey that feels both intimate and grand. The overall effect is powerful without being aggressive, transparent without being thin.

Advanced high school brass ensembles and college brass choirs looking for a concert or festival piece that showcases individual musicianship within an ensemble context. The scoring accommodates multiple soloists, making it ideal for programs where you want to feature several strong players rather than just one or two.

• Establish the mountain-top isolation of the opening flugel call by placing those three soloists slightly forward and using the hall's natural acoustics; this moment sets the piece's entire character.
• Balance the full chorale passages carefully so that no single voice overpowers the blend; this is where your ensemble's homogeneity in tone and intonation becomes audible.
• Mark the various solo passages in rehearsal and rotate who leads them so that all players engage with the shaping and phrasing, not just the designated soloists.
• Work the percussion parts early and separately, since they provide rhythmic and harmonic anchoring for the brass; tight communication between your percussion section and the ensemble sections that follow them prevents the texture from becoming muddy.

This works beautifully as a closing piece in a concert that includes other Marlatt works or as a standalone feature after lighter fare. At five minutes, it commands full attention and leaves a strong final impression; pair it with repertoire that contrasts in texture or energy rather than doubling down on the same mood.

• Blending multiple solo voices with ensemble background textures
• Sustaining transparent, ethereal voicings without loss of projection
• Executing clean transitions between solo and tutti passages
• Responding to dynamic and textural contrast within a single formal structure
• Developing individual musicianship while maintaining ensemble cohesion