The Best of Herbert L. Clarke: Trumpet Book

This collection gathers Clarke's most enduring solos in one practical volume, eliminating the hunt through scattered catalogs. Each piece offers genuine musical content alongside technical display, so your students develop artistry, not just chops. The variety of styles and difficulty levels within the book makes it invaluable for recital planning across multiple levels of advancement.

These pieces capture the golden age of brass virtuosity, blending European salon music traditions with American concert band aesthetics. Expect soaring, singable melodies supported by rich harmonies, alternating with sparkling technical passages that invite showmanship without sacrificing musicianship.

Advanced intermediate and advanced trumpet students preparing solos for recitals, competitions, or solo-with-piano performance contexts. Directors and private instructors seeking repertoire that combines technical substance with genuine musical interest will find this collection essential for programming across a season.

• Shape the lyrical passages with careful attention to breath placement; Clarke's melodies often span long phrases that reward thoughtful phrasing rather than note-by-note articulation.
• Approach the technical passagework with clarity and even articulation, especially in the faster sections where sixteenth-note patterns appear, to showcase rather than obscure the musical line.
• Balance the written ornamentation (trills, grace notes, turns) with the harmonic rhythm underneath; these embellishments are structural, not decorative.
• Use dynamic contrast to shape the formal sections; Clarke often reprises themes with varied accompaniment or tessitura, and adjusting volume will help clarify the structure for listeners.

Draw from this book throughout the year as your advanced students need recital material; the range of styles allows you to pair lighter character pieces (The Debutante, The Maid of the Mist) with more substantial concert works (Carnival of Venice) depending on the player's strengths and the concert context. The collection also works well for junior high and high school band directors seeking quality trumpet solo features that sit naturally with band accompaniment.

• Lyrical line shaping across long phrases
• Control of sixteenth-note passagework at tempo
• Accurate execution of period ornamentation (trills, grace notes, turns)
• Dynamic shaping to clarify formal structure
• Breath management in virtuosic passages
• Intonation precision in upper and lower register shifts
• Style and articulation appropriate to late nineteenth-century concert music