Recorded by the Budapest Scoring Orchestra

Gradients for String Orchestra

So often, we begin moving towards a place, event, or goal, but when we arrive, things often look different than we thought they would. What if the place we ended up was not what we originally envisioned, but we were able to find beauty in it just the same?

In For When We Arrive, the music seems to repeatedly almost arrive in a satisfying place. However, with each swell, we fall short of what we thought would be our destination. At m. 45, we seem to begin from where we started, trying our luck in a new key. And something is different this time…

Suddenly, the flutes and marimba offer us some much-needed momentum while supporting a new melody. Perhaps this new melody, which we had never seen before, is the true destination?

At m. 66, we receive a taste of resolution as we begin to look back on where we have been. There is a sense of relief that we are on the right path, and a feeling of more to come.

The music finally comes to a satisfying arrival at m. 78. While the piece had been building around the material from earlier music this entire time, we now realize that it is a melody that we never saw from the beginning – one we had to discover along the way – that we had actually been waiting for all along.

For When We Arrive is the story of the beauty that can come from being open to other people, opportunities, and ideas. Questioning, being curious and honest, and sometimes altogether abandoning our plans, convictions, or beliefs can often result in the discovery of something wonderful...

For When We Arrive for Chamber Winds and Percussion

Meaning in the Echoes begins mysteriously, as a solitary percussionist cries across a desolate landscape. With each unanswered call they begin to lose hope, when suddenly they receive a distant reply from an offstage bass drum. The two exchange in a dialogue, as the first desperately searches for the answering voice among the echoes.



The second movement reveals a number of possible paths. Some are insistent and impossible to ignore, some an annoying distraction, and others turn out to be a complete dead-end. As these routes are explored, abandoned, or completely ignored, a few offer the promise of true potential. We hear the original “call and response” from movement one grow closer and closer...



Just before the third movement, the offstage percussionists have finally found one another. The exploration and resulting discoveries from the second movement are polished and propelled forward. The musical ideas and musicians are united into a cohesive unit to celebrate the new discovery.



Meaning in the Echoes is a musical representation of exploration. The initial inspiration for the work was the act of composing itself. I often view writing as a search for musical ideas that often come forth in raw form. I begin sifting through them, and then decide how best to nurture or use them (if at all).



While the piece certainly speaks to the act of searching, discovery, and celebration in general, it is inseparable from the "real-time" story of the process that created the work itself. The music represents mystery, uncertainty, nagging and useless ideas, mind-numbing repetition, inspiration, excitement, and a number of other elements as the listener almost "observes" the music composing itself.

Meaning in the Echoes - MIDI

Wind in the Aspens is an exciting, rhythmically vibrant work for concert band. The music is reminiscent of the ever-changing gusts of wind that send the aspens and their unique leaves dancing, fluttering, and swaying. The piece maintains a consistent pulse throughout, with surprising and unexpected moments.


This piece was commissioned and premiered by Mr. Aaron Herman and the

Fossil Ridge High School Wind Ensemble in Fort Collins, CO.

Wind In The Aspens - MIDI,

"To Sacred Summits" is a musical representation of the mountains of Colorado. The music aims to capture their unique beauty and power. I am able to see the peaks of Rocky Mountain National Park from the window in my studio, so their influence was profound as I composed this piece of music. After all these years of the same view, I find it fascinating how dynamic the landscape can be as wind, light, clouds, snow, and fire alter the scenery.

I often think about what it was like to see these mountains for the first time; an experience that has been shared by millions of people across thousands of years. The short introduction of this piece of music represents the distant giants, seen from miles away or perhaps just being imagined from stories or images. The mystery gives way to an explosion of sound as beams of light crest the peaks, bringing the mountains and sky to life.

This piece is the culmination of musical sketches and ideas across a five-year span. The title is derived from a line in the poem “Mountain Storm” by Katherine Lee Bates, who also wrote about “purple mountain majesties” in a work that was later adapted to the song “America the Beautiful”.

"To Sacred Summits" serves as a reminder to stop every now and again and marvel at the beauty in our world. We can often forget to appreciate the most wonderful things when they are right in front of us every day. 

To Sacred Summits, MIDI

As you travel westward from Denver along Interstate-70, the once far-off mountains begin to close in around you. There are short glimpses of the landscape, but soon you are completely enveloped by the peaks; only able to see a short distance away. 

When you enter the Eisenhower Tunnel, (the highest elevation tunnel in the United States) you are suddenly engulfed by artificial light and concrete. The distant sunlight emanating from the tunnel’s end is a promise of the beauty on the other side. Upon exit, your pupils are suddenly flooded and there is explosion of magnificent scenery as open sky and massive mountains surround you.

Distant Promises intends to reflect this experience in music. While there are brief moments of beauty along the way, the piece seems to promise something more. This is finally fulfilled at the transcendental "Maestoso" in the final minute of the work.

Distant Promises MIDI

Wind in the Aspens is an exciting, rhythmically vibrant work for concert band. The music is reminiscent of the ever-changing gusts of wind that send the aspens and their unique leaves dancing, fluttering, and swaying. The piece maintains a consistent pulse throughout, with surprising and unexpected moments. A great opener or "palette cleanser" for any concert or honor band.

Wind In The Aspens, Temple University Symphonic Band, Dr. Matt Brunner

Score, parts, and info at:
kevinpoelking.com/fwwaorchestra

The idea for this music came from a piece I wrote a few years prior entitled There and Back. That work is a musical palindrome, with several themes that return in reverse order after a slower middle section. While writing, I felt as though there was something more to be said about the central "There" (the “slow” section) of There and Back. This material is the basis of For When We Arrive.

So often, we begin moving towards a place, event, or goal, but when we arrive, things often look different than we thought they would. What if the place we ended up was not what we originally envisioned, but we were able to find beauty in it just the same?

In For When We Arrive, the music seems to repeatedly almost arrive in a satisfying place. However, with each swell, we fall short of what we thought would be our destination. At m. 45, we seem to begin from where we started, trying our luck in a new key. And something is different this time…

Suddenly, the flutes and marimba offer us some much-needed momentum while supporting a new melody. Perhaps this new melody, which we had never seen before, is the true destination?

At m. 66, we receive a taste of resolution as we begin to look back on where we have been. There is a sense of relief that we are on the right path, and a feeling of more to come.

The music finally comes to a satisfying arrival at m. 78. While the piece had been building around the material from earlier music this entire time, we now realize that it is a melody that we never saw from the beginning – one we had to discover along the way – that we had actually been waiting for all along.

For When We Arrive is the story of the beauty that can come from being open to other people, opportunities, and ideas. Questioning, being curious and honest, and sometimes altogether abandoning our plans, convictions, or beliefs can often result in the discovery of something wonderful...

Libraries used include Virtual Drumline 2.5 and Noteperformer 3

MIDI - For When We Arrive for String Orchestra and Percussion

Perusal Score, Information and Score and Parts Available: www.kevinpoelking.com/by-the-hands

World Premiere Performance, April 2019, Colorado State University Wind Symphony, Conductor Sheridan Monroe.

By the Hands That Reach Us is based on two main themes. The first is an uplifting and almost heroic melody in the major key (first played by the euphonium at m. 28). The second theme, in the minor key, is quite the opposite in character (first played by the trumpets at m. 78). The pivotal moment of the piece comes when the two themes come together and exchange in a dialogue (mm.98-108). Instead of the "bad" theme being “defeated,” it is instead transformed to the major key with encouragement from the "good" theme. At its core, the second melody is the same, but has now become a more positive version of itself as a result of the influence from the first. While the process is slow at first, the revitalized second theme gains strength and is eventually able to stand by itself in a final moment of joy (m.141).

By the Hands That Reach Us aims to represent that while we can sometimes feel overwhelmed and defeated in our day-to-day life, we can often be lifted by our mentors, colleagues, family, and friends, who pull us from the depths to become better. Inside the conductor’s score is a quote that guided me throughout the compositional process, and I believe captures the spirit of this piece:

“When we feel we have lost ourselves, we extend our arms, and we are guided by the hands that reach us.”

Photo Courtesy of Natalie Dyer

By The Hands That Reach Us, World Premiere Performance-Colorado State University Wind Symphony

Performed and premiered in the lobby of Meyerson Symphony Hall in 2019 as winner of the Dallas Winds Fanfare Competition

Dallas Winds World Premiere, Fanfare For A New Day Conducted By Matteo Dal Maso

Info, score and parts at KevinPoelking.com/rise

I began composing Rise in early 2020 at the request of Dr. Jonathan Poquette, Director of Bands at Elon University in North Carolina. As part of this project, we wanted to involve his students in the overall ideas and theme of the work. We shared a survey asking students what they would prefer to see in the piece. 

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At almost the exact same time, the world was beginning to witness the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a significant impact on the students' responses. As we read through their feedback, we noticed a number of references by the ensemble members to the school's mascot, the Phoenix. The students began mentioning that it might be important to have a piece that would be about all of us "rising" from the challenges facing us and in the process becoming a new and better version of ourselves.

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Perhaps Rise does not tell the literal story of a Phoenix rising from the ashes, but this idea was certainly the inspiration for the piece. Moments of turmoil, doubt, hope, joy, and victory are all present throughout the work, sometimes at the same time. When the opening theme re-emerges in the second half of the piece, it is a stronger version of itself on the other side.

Kevin Poelking

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