Concert Works
Band GRADE 4 - 6 ⧫ Band GRADE 2 - 3 ⧫ Band GRADE 1 - 1.5 ⧫ Works for Strings ⧫ Concert Works ⧫ Best Sellers (Alfred)
Click on a title to hear an excerpt. If you are interested in acquiring any of these works, contact Trillenium Music Company or the composer.
Generations of children from Appalachia and the American South, especially those growing up during the 19th and early 20th centuries, fell asleep to the folk song lullaby, “All the Pretty Little Horses.” The song’s soothing promise of finding all varieties of pretty horses offers children fanciful images for their dreams and hope for when they wake.
This choral setting features the beauty and simplicity of the original modal melody along with contemporary harmonies and vocal textures. If interested in performing this, email me for PDF music. Here's a video of the piece in rehearsal by the Central York (PA) High School Chorale, Ben Watson, director (CLICK).
This original score for Clarinet (or Soprano Sax), Piano, Tuba (or String Bass) and Drum Set syncs to a newly recut scene from the Charlie Chaplin silent film, THE KID (1921). To acquire performance materials (which includes PDF score and parts, performance video MP4 with clicks/count-offs, practice video MP4 with clicks/count-offs and music, and practice MP3 with clicks/count-offs and music), please contact the composer (me!) at drscottwatson@gmail.com.
This work, a rollicking Latin-jazz dance movement, was written for my daughter, Abby (a flute major at West Chester University), for her senior recital. Abby is a Disney "freak," so I thought it fitting to use as generative material for this piece two quotes from iconic Disney melodies, "When You Wish Upon a Star," and "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes." Both melodies are treated to a host of contemporary compositional manipulations throughout (the melodies or parts thereof become tone rows, sets, cantus firmi, etc.), never actually appearing in their overt forms. Nonetheless, these tune fragments are enough a part of the DNA of the piece that the listener should sense their presence at some point..."like a bolt out of the blue"! To see/hear a performance of Bolt Out of the Blue, CLICK HERE. Published by Trillenium Music Company.
Be My Hands and Feet
For SATB Choir and Piano (with optional Clarinet and French Horn obligato parts). Commissioned and first performed by the Holy Trinity R.C. Church (Egypt, PA) Choir, Christine Lerew, Director. Text by Mary Louise Bringle, copyright GIA.
Buster On the Run! (Percussion Ensemble)
Zany, slapstick comedy put to music. Based on the final scene from the 1921 Buster Keaton film, The Goat, this piece is sure to bring down the house! Written for large percussion ensemble: Bells, Chimes, Vibraphone 1, Vibraphone 2, Xylophone, Marimba 1, Marimba 2, Bass Marimba (opt. Bass), Percussion 1 (Snare Drum/Floor Tom, Bass Drum), Percussion 2 (Suspended Cymbal/Hi-Hat), and Percussion 3 (Woodblock/Cowbell/Triangle/Siren Whistle/Slide Whistle). An Optional Drum Set part may be used in place of Percussion 1 & 2. This piece may be played alone, or with the silent film scene projected in concert. The video has a click track to get the piece started at the right time and in the right tempo. CLICK HERE to view a performance with the video.
This piece was commissioned by the Nazareth High School Percussion Ensemble, Rick Hilborn, director. Email me for performance materials.
For two trumpets, two trombones, organ, and timpani. A rousing instrumental anthem for Eastertime. Published by Trillenium Music Company. The sound clip excerpt is a MIDI realization.
Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra
Three movements: I. Introduction/Allegro moderato, II. Calmo, III. Allegro assai.
Although Neo-Romantic in mood, this showpiece for trumpet and orchestra acknowledges Baroque concerti practices as well as stylistic elements of popular music such as "be-bop" jazz and dance rhythms. First performed by the Temple University Symphony Orchestra, Luis Biava, Music Director, with trumpet soloist Terell Stafford (Oct 2001, Academy of Music, Philadelphia). Approximately 19 minutes in length. Finale score/parts available from the composer. A trumpet/organ transcription of the 2nd movement is also available.
This 2nd Place winner in the 1992 Percussive Arts Society Percussion Composition Contest (Large Ensemble) has been performed by the Temple University Percussion Ensemble (Glenn Steele, director), University of Delaware Percussion Ensemble (Harvey Price, director), and others. Scored for 10 players (mallets and battery), it is now available in a beautifully-prepared published edition from Trillenium Music Company. Reviewing the piece after the award, Cort McClaren of Percussive Notes (journal of the Percussive Arts Society) wrote, "Dark Chase is an excellent opener or an exciting show-piece in the center of a concert. Percussion ensemble conductors and performing musicians will find time spent on this piece very rewarding." The published edition was reviewed in the April, 1998 Percussive Notes by John Raush, who said: "Watson's score is well-crafted and imaginative, and reveals his keen eye for the idiomatic performance techniques of some of the instruments used."
For Instrument Solo and Piano (Grade 2, works with any band instrument), Dance of the Night portrays a macabre ballet danced by dark, shadowy figures. Their nocturnal motions are at first lilting and tentative, but then grow more and more disturbingly impassioned. The piece is a homage to, and inspired by, Sergei Prokofiev’s “Dance of the Knights” from his ballet, Romeo and Juliet. To appreciate the musical connection (mostly in the feel of the accompaniment), seek out a recording of Prokofiev’s “Dance of the Knights.”
Written for Alfred Music's Sound Innovations Soloist Series. Available in MakeMusic Cloud or from Totalsheetmusic.com. Solos come with SI Soloist Exercises which help prepare the player, and Sound Advice program notes and rehearsal tips.
The piece, which has been performed by Kathy Diener of the Washington, DC Marine Band, Kathy Karr of the Louisville Symphony Orchestra, and Linda Wetherill (former flutist at IRCAM in Paris), was originally written as a Christmas gift to my flutist wife, Kimberly, in 1988. Selections are included on the CD recording, Celestial Sounds, by the Christy/Davila Duo (flute & harp) and are available for purchase at their website: http://www.christydavila.com/. "The Holly and The Ivy" from this set appeared in the December, 1994 issue of Flute Talk magazine. Published by Trillenium Music Company.
This follow-up to the original Five Carols for Flute and Piano (see below) is published by Trillenium Music Company. The set, including "Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming", has been performed by Kathy Diener of the Washington, D.C. Marine Band. Selections are included on the CD recording, Celestial Sounds, by the Christy/Davila Duo (flute and harp) and are available for purchase at their website: http://www.christydavila.com/.
Arranged in 2011 to commemorate the 70th birthday of my mother. A short and sweet setting for three flutes you might use for a variety of occasions, with my compliments! Click here to download PDF score.
Commissioned by the Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra, Donald Spieth, music director. Premiered April 8, 2000. Elements of late-Renaissance/Baroque music merge with set theory in this very accessible, yet contemporary piece. Approximately 12 minutes in length. Finale score/parts available from the composer.
For Flute, Piano, optional 'Cello, and Narrator. Using Biblical text, this 10-minute theater piece tells the story of John the Baptist in a moving way. Published by Trillenium Music Company.
For Flute, Clarinet, Basson, 'Cello, and Narrator. Using Biblical text, this 10-minute theater piece, in a version scored for 4 instruments, tells the story of John the Baptist in a moving way. Available in manuscript from the composer.
For Flute, 'Cello, and Piano. Premiered by the Temple New Music Faculty Trio, and chosen for performance at the 1997 Society of Composer's Region III Conference. Published by Trillenium Music Company.
For Solo Flute and Piano (Grade 3), offers the listener a glimpse into the life of this King of Butterflies. The piece opens with the capricious, playful flitting about, from bloom to bloom, of the Monarch butterfly. After a time, the music shifts to the moment it pauses on a branch in the sun, opening wide it’s impressive wings of orange, black and white, in a beautiful and majestic display. Then, before long, Monarch is off again in wonderful flight! Click to SEE & HEAR.
Written for Alfred Music's Sound Innovations Soloist Series. Available in MakeMusic Cloud or from Totalsheetmusic.com. Solo comes with SI Soloist Exercises which help prepare the player, and Sound Advice program notes and rehearsal tips.
For Instrument Solo and Piano (Grade 2, works with any band instrument), was commissioned by the Governor Mifflin Intermediate School (Shillington, PA) - the home of the Mustangs! - for their combined 6th Grade Band & Orchestra, Steven Holgate, Director. Originally written to work as a piece for soloist and ensemble, it was adapted for this version for flexible instrumentation soloist and piano. The bright, upbeat tempo (marked Joyfully♩= 132), along with an infectious syncopated rhythm used throughout, give the piece it’s buoyant, optimistic spirit.
Written for Alfred Music's Sound Innovations Soloist Series. Available in MakeMusic Cloud or from Totalsheetmusic.com. Solos come with SI Soloist Exercises which help prepare the player, and Sound Advice program notes and rehearsal tips.
Based on several stanzas of the Walt Whitman poem of the same name. Commissioned by the Church Farm School (Exton, PA), Gary Gress, Music Director. Premiered February 25, 2001. Finale score/parts available from the composer.
NOTE: A thorough reworking of the piece for Mixed (SATB) Chorus, Solo Trumpet, and Piano was created in 2014 (see above). Contact me via email for PDF music.
A transcription for Solo Trumpet and Organ of the 2nd movement of Watson's Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra. Approximately 4:30 minutes. Finale score/parts available from the composer.
A delightful, new transcription of the original piece by Franz and Karl Doppler (1878). The virtuosic solo flute parts are essentially the same (though in a clean, modern typesetting), but the piano accompaniment has been adapted for the modern wind ensemble with piano. The piece is 9:45 long. All PDF performance parts available by contacting drscottwatson@gmail.com. Much of this piece is used (in an adapted version) in the score for the silent film, Behind the Scenes, starring Charlie Chaplin (click here to view).
This original score for Xylophone (or Marimba), Violin and Piano syncs to a newly recut scene from the celebrated Charlie Chaplin silent film, THE GOLD RUSH (1925). To acquire performance materials (which includes PDF score and parts, performance video MP4 with clicks/count-offs, practice video MP4 with clicks/count-offs and music, and practice MP3 with clicks/count-offs and music), please contact the composer (me!) at drscottwatson@gmail.com.
Commissioned by the Church Farm School (Exton, PA), Gary Gress, Music Director, for their Summer 2004 Germany Tour. Text is Psalm 46:1-4. Finale score/parts available from the composer.
For Solo Oboe and Piano (Grade 2). Envision the scene: On a moonlit winter evening with snow blanketing the ground, we find skaters gliding gracefully to and fro on a frozen lake. The blades of their skates cut long, silent arcs on the smooth ice, punctuated by occasional spins and leaps. Sur la Glace (or “On the Ice”) - with it’s lilting waltz-like tempo and neo-Impressionist harmonies - musically paints the picture of this serene ballet.
Written for Alfred Music's Sound Innovations Soloist Series. Available in MakeMusic Cloud or from Totalsheetmusic.com. Solo comes with SI Soloist Exercises which help prepare the player, and Sound Advice program notes and rehearsal tips.
The traditional Christmas carol text set to beautiful, original new music. Written in two versions: SATB Chorus, Piano, and opt. Flute; and SATB Chorus, Guitar, and opt. Flute. First performed by the Parkland High School Chorale, Clair Neamand, Director. Guitar version performed December 2006 by the Moravian College Choir, Paula Ring Zerkle, Director. Finale score/parts available from the composer.