Oh, the instrument (Eb Cornet) is available, for certain, and still
standard for brass bands, as are a whole set of Bb Cornets. It is not a
standard instrument in concert bands anymore. College wind ensembles
could use it for historical performances if they wish, or sub an Eb
trumpet, (which several of the college students will probably own) if
the members of rest of the section are playing trumpets.
I think we are making too much of the difference between cornets and
trumpets, frankly. Do some blind tests, and I think you will often hear
more difference between players than between instruments. Cornets are
mellower, sweeter, and project less, but I've heard guys who can make
the difference vanish, in both good and bad ways.
For a look at the world in which cornets are alive and well, see the
NABBA (North American Brass Band Association) website:
http://www.nabba.org/
NABBA's championship is held, for the next several years, a few miles
from my house at Indiana University Southeast in New Albany. Thousands
of brass band members from all over the US, and from other continents as
well, flock to the campus for two days every spring. The quality in the
upper levels is extremely high.
I sub on solo euphonium with one of the two local brass bands in the
area now and then. The traditional music is nearly all British, and is
great fun. Not the problems of varying instrumentation of mixed bands,
as was mentioned earlier - the instrumentation is standard. (There is
also a smaller nine-piece standard group, also but I have no experience
with it.)
Raymond Horton
John Howell wrote:
At 11:15 PM -0400 8/23/07, Raymond Horton wrote:
Missing the Eb soprano cornet is a problem for modern band with these
older works, but with more woodwinds in the modern band this can
often suffice. I've been working a lot with British-style brass
bands, lately, and the Eb soprano cornets are certainly the woodwinds
of those groups.
Actually I just got the Fall-Winter catalog for The WoodWind &
Brasswind, and took a moment to look through the
trumpet-cornet-flugelhorn pages. Yes, they list many more pages of
trumpets, both Bb and specialty keys, but there are several pages of
cornets and several choices of Eb soprano cornets, including Schilke,
which ain't chopped liver!
The problem is actually that the trumpet has become the all-purpose
instrument, needed for orchestral work, jazz band work, and marching
band work. The cornet, especially one played with the proper
mouthpiece and technique, is a vanishing voice out of choice, and not
because instruments are not available.
John
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