Concerto for Soprano Cornet

Concerto for Soprano Cornet is the culmination of a three year collaborative project with Steve Stewart, renowned soprano cornet soloist with the Cory Band. This seminal work sets out to explore new compositional ground for an overlooked soloist within current repertoire, challenging the instrument’s perceived limitations and showcasing the unique Stomvi Titan four-valve instrument.

The aims for the research were to produce a work that explores the capabilities of this bespoke instrument, to challenge the perceived limitations present in works of a similar nature whilst producing music which retains its appeal to a largely unspecialised readership.

The work introduces a studio methodology to the medium, pushing beyond the limitations of what has gone previously, allowing a heightened virtuosity from the soloist and enabling a greater technical freedom from the accompanying ensemble, removing any issues of stamina or compromise from the overall aesthetic vision. This approach allows the practicality of more ambitious compositional ideas and is believed to be the first work in band literature to explore this method, which has the potential to allow the inclusion of electronic and ambient sound or more popular music techniques as part of the compositional process, arguably a necessity if the brass band movement is to retain its standing with younger audiences in an ever-evolving British culture.

This empirical study has evolved as part of a highly creative process to overcome challenges in instrumental innovation, adopting a ‘trial and error’ strategy with both soloist and ensemble and the composition has undergone many revisions to produce a rigorous musical argument which presents several contributions to knowledge.

Concerto for Soprano Cornet was published in September 2018 on Over the Horizon – Soloist Steve Stewart, the Cory Band and Conductor Philip Harper. Doyen Label DOY CD376.