SKU: CY.CC2845

Cornet solos are an important part of the American Brass tradition. The Southern Cross is one of Clarke's most well known Cornet solos and was written in 1911, dedicated to the Australians and first recorded by the composer with Orchestra the next year for Victor Records.
During 1911, Clarke was the solo Cornetist of the Sousa Band while the band was on a world tour that included visits to South Africa, Tazmania and Australia from March through to August.
Below is a photo of the Sousa band from their 1911 tour. Clarke is sitting in the front row 5th in from the right with his moustache and his Cornet on his lap. He assuredly composed this solo to perform on that tour. The Southern Cross is a constellation that is only seen from the southern hemisphere and features the five stars of the Cross from the 1901 design of the Australian flag.

This 5-minute virtuosic arrangement by Geoffrey Bergler features not only the Cornet, but a bit of all the other four members of the Brass Quintet.
Instrumentation is for:
2 Trumpets in B-flat (Trumpet 1 solo, Trumpet 2 also plays Piccolo)
Horn,
Trombone
Tuba/Bass Trombone
The sound track below features Mr. Bergler from his student days as Cornet soloist

SKU: CY.CC3020

ISBN 9781774310601. 8.5 x 11 in inches.

About the Taiwan Fantasia, van Deursen states: After having lived in Taipei for a number of years, I learned many of the local folk and popular songs. Some of the melodies are exceptionally beautiful, and my idea was to somehow combine all the elements that have made up my musical experiences over these years - Chinese melodies, western orchestral music and jazz; I wanted to see if these songs could survive with a totally different harmonic structure and concept. My original goal was to write a simple arrangement of the two songs, but quickly I discovered more melodies building upon the original ones and thus the Variations were born. Composed in 1995, this work of about 10 minutes in length is in one continuous movement, but is divided into seven short sections of contrasting moods including two cadenzas, for Trumpet and Trombone. The music is appropriate for advanced performers. Parts in C and B-flat are supplied for the Trumpets. A recording of Taiwan Fantasia can be purchased on iTunes from the album by the Yeh Shu Han Brass Quintet.