Robert W. Smith

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This article is about the composer. For other uses of the name Robert W. Smith, see Robert Smith.

Robert W. Smith is an American composer, arranger, and teacher. He was born in the small town of Daleville, Alabama in 1958 .^{[citation needed]} He attended high school in Daleville, after which he left for Troy State University, where he played lead trumpet in the Sound of the South Marching Band.^{[citation needed]} While at Troy, he studied composition with Dr. Paul Yoder.

Upon his graduation from Troy State with a Bachelor of Music Education degree, Smith pursued his musical career in South Florida, where he earned the Master's degree in Media Writing and Production from the University of Miami, while studying with Dr. Alfred Reed.^{[citation needed]} He was soon hired by Columbia Pictures Publications and later Warner Bros./Belwin Publications.[1] Smith's career with Warner Bros. continued until 2005, when it was bought out by Alfred Publications.^{[citation needed]}

In 1997, Smith returned to Troy, Alabama to become the Director of Bands at Troy State University, following the retirement of his old band director, Dr. Long. Smith would remain at Troy for four years, directing the Sound of the South Marching Band and the Symphony Band.[2] In 2001, he left Troy to take a more full-time position with Warner Brothers Publications.^{[citation needed]} His position with Warner since leaving Troy has taken him all over the world, acting as guest conductor and clinician with many ensembles.

Currently, Smith has over 600 published works, including two symphonies. Symphony No. 1, The Divine Comedy, was inspired by Dante's epic, while Symphony No. 2, The Odyssey, was inspired by the Greek epic of the same name.[3] Among Smith's most highly-acclaimed works is 12 Seconds to the Moon, which depicts man's dream and ultimate reality of conquering flight. In ten minutes of fanfares, chorales, and a portrayal of the Wright brothers' workshop, the audience is taken from the beginnings of flight up to the rocket age of space travel.^{[citation needed]}

Smith has also composed two works dedicated to solo instruments–-contemporary concertos for the flute family and the euphonium--entitled Gemeinhardt Suite, and Willson Suite respectively.^{[citation needed]}

Smith's piece entitled "Encanto" is one of the most known among developing bands. It's very transitive. It begins with a brass fanfare and moves into an overture.^{[citation needed]}

Perhaps Smith's best known piece is "Into The Storm", which was written to commemorate the powerful 1993 winter storm that brutalized the eastern United States. This piece is often worked into various themes and reset in different ensembles such as a version played by an orchestra, substituting the flute ostinato as a violin part; or otherwise used as a part of a marching band show (See Sandy Creek Marching Band).^{[citation needed]} Additionally, the middle section that is slow and triumphant at the end, is an arrangement of the Fraternity Hymn of Kappa Kappa Psi. Smith himself is a brother of the fraternity, having been initiated into the Zeta Upsilon chapter at then Troy State University in April 1977.

In addition to composing for bands, Smith has enjoyed much success writing for the drum and bugle corps. His first great success came in the mid-1980s while he was writing for the Suncoast Sound, from Clearwater, Florida -- a tenure which included Suncoast's 1985 program, "A Florida Suite," the first completely original musical program ever done by a drum corps.[4] He would later go on to write for Magic of Orlando for several years. Until 2007, he wrote for the Glassmen Drum and Bugle Corps, of Toledo, Ohio. Around 2002, Robert and his wife Susan L. Smith began to work on a new project, writing a fully integrated music curriculum that would begin in elementary school and take students all the way through high school. A design team of several of the best music educators was assembled, and the result was Music Expressions.[5]

Before the beginning of the 2006-2007 school year, Troy University announced the re-hiring of Smith to the position of Coordinator of the Music Industry program.[6] On December 14, 2006, Smith announced his appointment as Director of Product Development for the C. L. Barnhouse Company, and an exclusive publishing arrangement with the firm, effective January 1, 2007.[7]

His wife, Susan Smith is currently the band director of the Saint James band.

[edit] Compositions:

'Twas in the Moon of Wintertime'
A Christmas Hymn
Affirmation Overture
Africa: Ceremony, Song and Ritual
African Bell Carol
All Is Calm
America the Beautiful
Angels, from the Realms of Glory
Appalachian Overture
Apollo Fanfare
Ash Lawn Echoes
At the Crossroads
Battlefield Earth
Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
Buffalo Dances
By Loch and Mountain
Cameroon
Cantique de Noel
Castle Lore
Celebration
Ceremonium
Chautauqua
Christmas Concerto
Christmas in the Round
Covenant
Currents
Daphne
Dance Celebration
Dan
Danza
David
Debbie
Declaration in Blue
Derek
Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me
Drummer's Christmas Carol
Encanto[8]
Eternal Peaks
Fanfare and Processional on an Old English Carol
Furioso
Gemeinhardt Suite
Gladiator Finale (featuring "Battle Theme" from Gladiator and "Parade of the Charioteers" from Ben Hur)
Glorioso
God Bless the U.S.A.
Greensleeves: A Fantasy
Holiday Fanfare
Herndon Exaltations
Huntington Proclamation
Hymnsong Variants
In a Gentle Rain
In the Bleak Midwinter
Incantations
Inchon
Into the Storm [9]
Ireland: Of Legend and Lore
Ithaca (from The Odyssey (Symphony No. 2))
Jefferson: A Vision for America
Jingle Bells Forever
Journeys Through Time
King of Kings
Knights of the Royal Realm
Kronos
Let Heaven and Nature Sing!
Linus and Lucy
Liturgical Fanfare
Liza Jane
Lullaby Carols
Montevista
Monument
Morpheus
Mystere
Mysterioso
Nocturnal Dances
North Bay Vistas
Northwoods: Of Might and Mettle
Old Time Rock & Roll
On Eagle's Wings
On This Day Earth Shall Ring (from Holst's Winter Suite, Mvt. 1)
On the Rising Winds
Paradiso (from The Divine Comedy (Symphony No. 1))
Patriots on Parade
Pavane (Pour Une Infante Defunte)
Portsmouth Overture
Proclamation
Prologue
Proud Mary
Provenance
Purgatorio(from The Divine Comedy (Symphony No. 1))
Quintilian
Ragtime Medley
Repercussions
Rising Dragons
Rites of Tamburo
Rockin' Robin
Russian Folk Rhapsody
Rythmos
Semper Liberi
Serengeti Dreams
Songs of Earth, Water, Fire and Sky
Songs of Sailor and Sea
Spirit of the Winds
Symphonic Suite from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
Tanoan Echoes
Tap Roots
The Ascension (from The Divine Comedy (Symphony No. 1))
The Children's Carols
The Divine Comedy (Symphony No. 1)
The Hunt With Belle Meade
The Gathering of the Yeomen
The Great Escape March
The Great Locomotive Chase [10]
The Great Steamboat Race
The Iliad (from The Odyssey (Symphony No. 2))
The Inferno (from The Divine Comedy (Symphony No. 1))
The Isle of Calypso (from The Odyssey (Symphony No. 2))
The Maelstrom
The Odyssey (Symphony No. 2)
The Second Storm
The Sound and the Fury
The Spirit of Orpheus
The Star of Dreams
The Swarm (A Battle Won With Hornets)
The Sword of Kings
The Symphony of Souls
The Trail of Dreams
The Tempest
The Winds of Poseidon (from The Odyssey (Symphony No. 2))
Three Faces of Kilimanjaro
Tidings of Joy!
To Challenge the Sky and Heavens Above
To Dance in the Fields of Glory
To Dance in the Secret Garden
To the Summit! (Strive for the Highest)
Twelve Seconds to the Moon
Twilight Is Falling
Two Beethoven Sketches
Ukrainian Bell Carol
Valdres
Variant on an Old English Carol
Variations on "Deck the Halls"
Warm-Ups for Outdoor Winds and Percussion
Wassail
When Summer Takes Flight
Where the Black Hawk Soars
Wild Wild West
Willson Suite
Winged Victory