Good Solos for a College Freshman

[daviste]

What are the most popular solos for college freshmen? I'll be a senior next year and I'd like to get a good leg in for the year after. Maybe get ahead of the game a bit, too. I'm also asking because a friend of mine has a scholarship opportunity and she needs a solo, so I figured this is a good chance to get both questions answered.
-TJ

[John Morgan]

Here are three to consider:

1. Morceau Symphonique (written for trombone, but very nice on euphonium, too) by Alexandre Guilmant
2. Rhapsody for Euphonium by James Curnow
3. Napoli by Herman Bellstedt

The first two are not extremely hard, but require a fair amount of musicality. Napoli is what you would call a "barn burner". A very technical piece, but if you have the skills, a nice piece for an audition.

I am sure you will get many more suggestions.

[MichaelSchott]

John's recommendations are spot on. I'd also add Beautiful Colorado by DeLuca which is both lyrical and technical. These are all old school pieces but I'm not up on the modern repertoire.

[enhite]

If you want to get away from the some of the "warhorses" (not that there is anything wrong with tried and true), there is a very nice piece written by a former Tennessee Tech student, Fred L. Clinard, Jr. called "Sonata for Unaccompanied Euphonium". (No pianist needed!) It is published by Shawnee Press, dist. by Hal Leonard and is readily available. I'm sure that several of the forum members are familiar with it. It is modern but tonal. Even if you don't use it in the immediate future, it is a very nice piece to have under your belt. Good luck!!

[cpoet89]

All the above suggestions are great. I'm especially a fan of "Rhapsody" and the Clinard sonata.

I'd also like to add the Haddad Suite for Baritone, and the Teleman Sonata in F minor. I had to perform both of these for the ITEC young artist several years ago and enjoyed them both. Also, the Teleman should be public domain, so you can probably find a version on imslp.com for free.

[John Morgan]

The public domain site is imslp.org, NOT imslp.com.

[Kyler]

another really good one is get the horovitz concerto and work on movement 1 then you can slowly add the other movements to it. also lyric suite by white is great and also song for ina if you are interested in something more lyrical

[cpoet89]

The public domain site is imslp.org, NOT imslp.com.

Oh, thanks John! Good catch

[TD517]

Don't completely disregard your state's solo list. There's usually a range of difficulty at the highest level, some easier and some that are definitely college-level material. Adam Frey's site also has a recommended solo listing. As someone suggested the Horovitz 1st movement (which I would also recommend), the third and hardest movement is in the Ohio class A solo list. Heck, Pantomime was on there until the replaced it with a different Sparke piece a few years ago.

Also take into consideration your skill-set. Can you double and triple tongue? How fast can play cleanly and in correct tempo? How expressive can you be? etc. Choose pieces that show you off at your best as audition pieces, but also take on ones that push you to practice your weaknesses to make you a more well rounded player.

[daviste]

Sorry for the late reply, I've been travelling quite a bit this summer. However, I have stayed up to date with this post.
I appreciate all the awesome suggestions. I think I'll give some of these pieces a shot.

Thank you

[Kyler]

good luck and have fun