Product Description
Although published as a piano solo
(1902), A Breeze from Alabama is subtitled "March and Two Step" and has a
dedication on the cover to P. G. Lowery (Perry George Lowery, 1871-1942), "World's
Challenging Colored Cornetist and Band Master." Thus, A Breeze from Alabama may well have been conceived as a march for military band
but published only as a piano solo. No band arrangement by
Joplin is known to exist, but Joplin could have done this, as he himself was a cornetist
as well as pianist, and had played cornet in bands like Lowery's many times.
Drawing on this information, the
present arrangement by James Siddons (2017) is based on the following assumptions:
1. A Breeze from Alabama
originated as a march (in march-trio form) for military band.
2. The 1902 publication for piano solo by Scott Joplin is a piano
reduction of that band work. The melodic lines intended for cornet solo are generally
discernible in the piano reduction.
3. A setting for piano duet (or
ensemble) keeps this work in the tradition of ragtime piano while also emulating the fulsome
tone colors of brass instruments to a degree that a solo piano cannot do. Thus this
arrangement is not a solo-and-accompaniment setting, but a setting for large ensemble with
soloist. It is collaborative music, akin to a concerto.
This is the part for cornet in Bb (or trumpet). A performance also requires the piano duet score (also playable as a piano ensemble), and the full score if a conductor participates. The audio track posted here has the piano music only, and is for rehearsal by the cornet soloist. A cadenza for the cornet, composed by James Siddons, begins at measure 116 in the score and part, and at 2 mins, 44 secs in the audio recording. In the audio track, five seconds of silence begin at 2 mins, 44 secs. To practice the cadenza, press the "pause" button on your media player. To rehearse without playing the cadenza, simply wait out the brief silence. At 2 mins, 49 secs, the piano music resumes at measure 120 of the score or cornet part.
This product was created by a member of ArrangeMe, Hal Leonard's global self-publishing community of independent composers, arrangers, and songwriters. ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.