A Breeze from Alabama Piano Duet or Ensemble Part by Scott Joplin Piano Duet - Digital Sheet Music

SKU: A0.972643

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 discernable 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.

The part for sale here is the piano duet (or ensemble), with the Secondo part on the left pages and the Primo part on the right (facing) pages. The mp3 recording is of the full score (cornet solo and pianos). The full score and cornet part are sold separately.