Robert W. Smith (musician)

Robert W. Smith (musician)
Robert William Smith (October 24, 1958 – September 21, 2023) was an American composer, arranger, and teacher.
Biography
Robert William Smith was born in Daleville, Alabama, on October 24, 1958. 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. While at Troy, he studied composition with Paul Yoder.
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. In 2001, he left Troy to take a more full-time position with Warner Brothers Publications. His position with Warner while away from Troy took him all over the world, acting as guest conductor and clinician with many ensembles, including the New Mexico All-State Small School band. Smith's career with Warner Bros. continued until 2005, when it was bought out by Alfred Music Publishing.
His album Don Quixote was nominated for the 8th Annual Independent Music Awards for Contemporary Classical Album.
Smith was the coordinator of the Music Industry program at Troy University as well as the Vice-President of Product Development for the C. L. Barnhouse Company and Walking Frog Records.
Robert W. Smith died due to complications following heart surgery in Montgomery, Alabama, on September 21, 2023. He was 64.
Compositions
Smith published over 600 works, including three symphonies.
Symphony No. 1, The Divine Comedy, was inspired by Dante's epic.
Symphony No. 2, The Odyssey, was inspired by the Greek epic of the same name.
Symphony No. 3, "Don Quixote", was inspired by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra's epic of the same title.
In 2011, Smith composed a piece in memory of Mary Jo Leahey and it was premiered at the Mary Jo Leahey Symphonic Band Camp at University of Massachusetts Lowell on July 21, 2012. The piece is entitled, Earhart: Sounds of Courage, and reflects the bravery of Amelia Earhart as she attempted to fly around the world in 1937. It was commissioned by Deb Huber, associate director of bands at UMass Lowell.
Smith also composed two works dedicated to solo instruments–-contemporary concertos for the flute family and the euphonium—entitled Gemeinhardt Suite, and Willson Suite respectively.
Smith's piece "Into The Storm" 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).
Smith was a brother of Kappa Kappa Psi, having been initiated into the Zeta Upsilon chapter at then Troy State University in April 1977. His work "To the Summit" is subtitled "Strive for the Highest". The middle section of "To the Summit" is an arrangement of the Kappa Kappa Psi Fraternity Hymn. Smith was a brother of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, initiated at James Madison University in 1996, and the fraternity commissioned the piece Spirit of Orpheus in 1998.
Other work
In addition to composing for bands, Smith enjoyed success writing for drum and bugle corps. He had been a member of the Charioteers Drum and Bugle Corps in Alabama in the mid-1970s. 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. 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. From 2011 to 2014 he arranged for the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps. In 2013, he began writing for the Troopers Drum and Bugle Corps.
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. In December 2006, Smith announced his appointment as Director of Product Development for the C. L. Barnhouse Company along with an exclusive publishing arrangement with the firm.
List of original compositions
Symphony No. 1, The Divine Comedy-
Movement One: The Inferno
Movement Two: Purgatorio
Movement Three: The Ascension
Movement Four: Paradiso
Symphony No. 2, The Odyssey
Movement One: The Iliad
Movement Two: The Winds of Poseidon
Movement Three: The Isle of Calypso
Movement Four: Ithaca
Symphony No.3, Don Quixote
Movement One:The Quest
Movement Two: Dulcinea
Movement Three: Sancho and the Windmills
Movement Four: The Illumination
Aces
A Christmas Auld Lang Syne
A Christmas Proclamation
Abominable Snowman Chase
Affirmation Overture
Africa: Ceremony, Song and Ritual
African Bell Carol
Ain't No Stoppin' Us!
American Flourish
American Landscape #1 (Lake Township, Ohio)
American Landscape #2 (North Bay Vistas)
American Landscape # 3 (Southwest Summer)
An American Christmas
A Nation's Strength (... And Lift Them to the Sky)
And The Nations Rejoice
Apollo Fanfare
Appalachian Folk Dance
Ash Lawn Echoes
At Daybreak
At the Crossroads
Barrage
Benjamin Franklin and the Art of Music
Be Still, My Soul
Bells
Blue
Brazilian Bell Carol
Brazil: Ceremony, Song, and Samba
Buffalo Dances
By Loch and Mountain
Cameroon w/Michael Story
Can You Feel The Beat?
Celebration
Celtic Bell Carol
Celtic Carol
Ceremonium
Chautauqua
Christmas Declaration
Christmas in the Round
Commemoration
Concert Band Clinic
Covenant
Crown of Glory
Crush
Currents
Dance Celebration
Danza
Danza Del Fuego
Declaration in Blue
Developing Band Clinic
Discovery 1492 (Suite)
Isabella, The Queen of Spain (Movement I)
Voyage of the Tall Ships (Movement II)
The New Land: A Celebration (Movement III)
Dramatico
Dreams
Drummer's Christmas Carol
Dueling Dragons
Earhart: Sounds of Courage
Elephas Maximus
El Espíritu de Valencia
Encanto
Eternal Peaks
Evening Alleluias
Fanfare and Processional on an Old English Carol
Fanfare for Tomorrow (From the Threads of Our Past, the Fabric of Our Future)
Fanfare on an Old French Carol
Fiesta La Vida
First Band Clinic
Freya: Goddess of Beauty and Love
Furioso
Gemeinhardt Suite
Ghost Band
Glorioso
Groovin' Down Cool Street
Hadrian's Wall
Holiday Bells Are Ringing
Holiday Fanfare
Hoosier Suite
March Numeric (Movement I)
Modal Dance (Movement II)
Fanfare and Chant (Movement III)
Happy Birthday (Melody Mine)
Herndon Exaltations (A Celebration of Excellence)
Hymnsong Variants
In the Garden of the Gods
Incantations
Inchon
Into the Storm
Invincible
Ireland: Of Legend and Lore
Jefferson: A Vision for America
Jingle Bells Forever
Journeys in Time
King of Kings
Knights of the Royal Realm
Kronos
Latin Bell Carol
Legacy
Legend of the Queen Anne's Revenge
Liturgical Fanfare
Lullaby for Band
March of the Magical Toys
Mekong
Mirages
Montevista
Monument
To Touch the Sky
Cloud Dances
Colorado Dreams
Pioneer Spirit and Celebration
Morpheus
Moto Continuo
Mystere
Mysterioso
Navarro
Nocturnal Dances
Northwoods: Of Might and Mettle
On Eagle's Wings
On the Rising Winds
Patriots on Parade
Portsmouth Overture
Prevailing Winds
Procession of Heroes w/Michael Story
Proclamation
Proclamation and Procession
Prologue w/Michael Story
Promising Skies
Provenance
Push
Quintilian
Racing the Yankee Clipper
Relativo
Reign
Repercussions
Rising Dragons
Rites of Tamburo
Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow
Rockin' Ol' St. Nick w/Michael Story
Rythmos
Santa's Wild Ride
Screamin'
Semper Liberi (We Will Always Be Free)
Sensei's Ride On The Cherry Blossom Express
Serengeti Dreams
Soaring through Ionian Skies
Solaris
Songs of Earth, Water, Fire, and Sky
Songs of Sailor and Sea
Spirit of the Winds
Stone Gardens
Suite of Appalachian Folk Songs
Surge
Swarm
Swing!
Symphonic Band Clinic
Symphonic Festival
Symphonic Statement
Tangents for Strings
Tanoan Echoes
Tap Roots
Teutonic Tales (Suite for tuba solo with piano accompaniment)
Demon Dance
Freya
Thor's Hammer
The Children's Carols
The Hunt With Belle Meade
The Gathering of the Yeomen
The Great Locomotive Chase
The Great Steamboat Race
The Maelstrom
The Magic In Your Eyes
The Phantom Herd Across The Western Sky
The Recession Depression Holiday Blues
The Runaway Sleigh
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 Willson Suite
Tronad (Movement I)
In a Gentle Rain (Movement II) (also published separately)
Hurricane (Movement III)
Three Faces of Kilimanjaro (Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira)
Three Fanfares for a Celebration
Celebrations Fanfare
Festive Fanfare
Dedicatory Fanfare
Through the Vulcan's Eye
To Challenge the Sky and Heavens Above
To Conquer The Kraken
To Dance in the Fields of Glory
To Dance in the Secret Garden
To The Max (On The Truck)
To the Summit! (Strive for the Highest)
Triton Fanfare
Tromba Grande
'Twas in the Moon of Wintertime'
Twelve Seconds to the Moon
Twilight Is Falling
Ultimatum
Valiance (A Heroic Overture for Band)
Variant on an Old English Carol
Vaughan Williams Suite
Wassail (Movement I)
Greensleeves: A Fantasia for Band (Movement II)
Declaration and Flourish (Movement III)
Warm-Ups for Outdoor Winds and Percussion
When Summer Takes Flight
Where the Black Hawk Soars
Yes, Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus
References
External links
Biography from Troy University
Official page at C. L. Barnhouse Co.
1958 births
2023 deaths
20th-century American composers
20th-century American male musicians
21st-century American composers
21st-century American male musicians
American classical composers
American classical trumpeters
American male classical composers
American music arrangers
American music educators
Classical musicians from Alabama
People from Daleville, Alabama
Troy University alumni