*Sparke - Song and Dance

Song and Dance was originally composed for cornet solo with brass band but has been transcribed for numerous different instrumentations, including trumpet and piano. Song has a lyrical melody reminiscent of Nimrod from Elgar's Engima Variations. Dance is much faster and has some syncopations, mixed meter, and mostly stepwise sixteenth notes runs.

Range: A below the staff to A above the staff

Song and Dance be purchased here.

Staigers - Carnival of Venice

Staiger's version of Carnival of Venice differs greatly from the cornet solos by Arban and Clarke that are based on the same folk tune. Though it's less than 5 minutes long, this solo requires extreme flexibility to execute the fast lip slurs at the opening, fast finger technique to play the scalar and neighbor tone figures, and crisp, continuous triple tonguing in the final variation.

Range: A below the staff to C above the staff (opt. E)

Carnival of Venice can be purchased here.

A digital PDF download is available here.

Stanley - Concerto

Concerto is an excellent solo for perfecting trills, as all three movements have many trills notated. The fourth movement consists primarily of dotted rhythms. It has a high tessitura, sitting mostly at the top of the staff and above. The first and fourth movements could also be used as an introduction to playing the piccolo trumpet.

Range: C below the staff to C above the staff

Concerto can be purchased here.

*No professional recording available at time of publication.

Stevens - Sonata

Sonata requires excellent rhythm, as extensively uses mixed meter and often has the trumpet and piano parts offset from each other. All three movements use intervals up to an octave. The second movement is very slow and requires various subdivisions of the beat. The third movement gives the performer the opportunity to use a harmon mute with both stem in and stem out.

Range: G below the staff to D above the staff

Sonata can be purchased here.