Valentine's Day Concert Solo

[Bandsman61]

My New Horizons Band Director has asked me to come up with a solo for a Valentines day concert.
It needs to be a "love song".
It can't be something too classical, like Nessun dorma!.
The more recognizable, the better.
It needs to be published for Concert band accompaniment.
It can be for trumpet or BC.
It also can't be very long.
Good luck, right?

[bbocaner]

Arthur Pryor - Thoughts of Love

[RickF]

I've always liked, "Be My Love" by Brodzsky ever since I heard Riki McDonnell play that on "Euphonium Songbook". Morgan Griffiths also recorded. But... it was with brass band. Not sure if there's sheet music for concert band accomp. or not. It runs less than 4 minutes.

Here's a link to listen to Glyn Williams playing it:
Be My Love - Brodszky, Cahn, arr. Farr

[Snorlax]

Serenade from the Student Prince is a sure winner and fits all your criteria--there are several band versions available; I played it with the Indiana Wind Symphony a few years ago.
In moments of pure snark, I played these with the Indianapolis Brass Choir over the years: Time to Say Goodbye, Don't Be That Way, and Softly As I Leave You...

[davewerden]

...and Softly As I Leave You...

I like the other suggestions above, but I think you might want to check the lyrics of this song before using it.

https://genius.com/Matt-monro-softly...ave-you-lyrics

[Bandsman61]

These are very good suggestions and great songs for solos.
I am familiar with "Softly As I Leave You".
Serenade from the Student Prince is a very good idea. I will work on that, but not for this concert.

The problem is our audience.
They are usually 60+ years old and not very familiar with anything classical.
They are often wonderful audiences, but highbrow stuff doesn't fly well.

The best solo would be something a little more contemporary and something they know some of the words to.
I sang "Autumn Leaves" at one of our Jazz concerts and it was a decent hit.
I would even play that song, IF, there was a concert band / solo arrangement available.

I suspect that the difficulty in finding the perfect piece is why he asked me to look.

I might be out of luck.

[davewerden]

Ok, then how about Till There Was You from the Music Man? The crowd should know it, and the band might have a Music Man arrangement with this song in it. Just have the melody instruments lay out for you and experiment with a graceful way to start and end just the one song.

[Snorlax]

As I mentioned, these were moments of pure snark. ;-)

Our quintet did a lot of parties where we were musicians
and comedians. Wish I had recorded them. I know I did
a couple of those with the quintet at Valentine-type events.

[davewerden]

As I mentioned, these were moments of pure snark. ;-)

Ah, I read the post on my phone - I often miss things on that little critter!

[Bandsman61]

That is a great idea.
I think we do already have "The Music Man" in our library.