Through the Trees

1. The Street

An opening that might initially seem ominous grows into an energetic and forceful opening hit meant to evoke the mixed feelings we might experience while embarking on a new and unknown journey. The orchestration allows for a powerful impact while still creating transparency for the moving lines to soar through! After a tempo change signals the true start of our journey, a technical duet for your alto saxophone and flute soloists will be sure to impress judges and audiences alike. Soli sections for low brass and trumpets lead us to another impact moment, followed by a full woodwind section feature that lays beautifully on the instruments. A further build to a final impact helps increase excitement as our journey proceeds on and color starts to be introduced for the first time.

2. Yellow Brick Road

The ballad begins with an introspective feel, and allows an outstanding flute soloist to demonstrate excellence in tone quality across a variety of registers. Shades of Somewhere Over the Rainbow can be found throughout the early parts of this beautiful movement, and a trumpet soloist finally leads us into a lush impact statement of the iconic melody from “The Wizard of Oz.” The feelings of joy and life in this ballad impact will be palpable in the entire stadium, and yellow should be introduced here to complement the gorgeous musical aesthetic! Once again, the orchestration is sure to set your students up to sound their absolute best on this well-known melody! Interwoven trumpet and flute solos lead the movement to a serene closing.

3. There’s No Place Like Home

Another tempo change brings a forward-driving energy into the final movement as we start to look “through the trees” to see what lies behind. We still hear small hints at melodic material from Rainbow, but this time the driving energy behind that material will keep the audience on the edge of their seats as they wait for a resolution. An impact leads to a brief percussion break, which continues to drive the energy forward to a final impact where our full yellow/gold/tree-lined aesthetic comes into view, as we finally make it through the trees and see that there truly is “no place like home!”