Transpositions Available for Each Part in the ENSEMBLE CONCERT BOOKS SERIES

This chart describes each transposition available for each voice in the Ensemble Concert Books Series, along with a list of most of the instruments that can be appropriate for playing that part. This will give you a good idea of which books to order, based on which instruments you have. The preferred instruments for each part are highlighted in red.

SOPRANO 1:

In C. This part includes both the high octave, suitable for flute, piccolo, and violin, and the low octave, suitable for oboe or brass instruments in C.
In Bb. This part is suitable for trumpets, (soprano) clarinets, and soprano saxophones.
In Eb. This part is suitable for and voiced for the Eb soprano clarinet. It can also be played by an Eb sopranino saxophone. If necessary, it can be played by an alto saxophone, but it will not be in the right register, and it would be good if the alto sax player could play it an octave above the written notes.
In F. This part will be available only on request. Please allow six weeks for us to produce it. It is available in the event that a French horn or F trumpet is the only instrument you have to play this voice, and it will require a horn player with a good high range to play it.

SOPRANO 2:

In C. This part is voiced for oboe and violin. It is possible for a flute to play it as well, but this part will frequently be in the lower range for a flute and therefore might lose some power.
In Bb. This is the part to get for (soprano) clarinets, trumpets, and soprano saxophones.
In Eb. This part is voiced for alto saxophones and alto clarinets. It can also be played by an Eb soprano clarinet, but should be played an octave below the written notes.
In F. For French Horns.
In Alto Clef. For violas. This part is only available on request. Please allow six weeks for production.

ALTO:

In C. For violin, viola, or any other C-pitched instrument playing treble clef n the alto range.
In Bb. For soprano clarinets. It can also be played by a trumpet, as it has higher-octave cue notes for those notes that go below the range of a trumpet. It can also be played by tenor saxophones and treble clef baritone horn, but that player should play an octave above the written notes.
In Eb. For alto saxophones, and alto clarinets.
In F. For French Horns.
In Alto Clef. For violas, and those rare (and strange) trombone players who prefer to read alto clef. This part is only available on request. Please allow six weeks to produce it.
In Bass Clef. For trombones and baritone B.C. players. This part will usually be in the higher end of the range of these players, but not uncomfortably so.

TENOR:

In Bb. This is for tenor saxophones and baritone horns who play treble clef.
In Eb. This can be played by alto saxophones, although it will be somewhat low in their register.
In F. For French Horns. This is not the preferred instrument for this part, but they CAN play it.
In Tenor Clef. For violas, and others who prefer tenor clef. This part is only available on request. Please allow six weeks to produce it.
In Bass Clef. For trombones, baritone horns, and cellos. It can also be played by bassoons when needed.

BASS:

In Bb. For Bass clarinet and contra-bass clarinet. Also for Bass Saxophone and brass band type tuba/bass players who read Bb treble clef bass parts.
In Eb. For baritone saxophones and Eb Contra-alto Clarinets.
In F. For experienced horn players only. This part is only available on request. Please allow six weeks to produce it.
In Bass Clef - High. For string bass players.
In Bass Clef - Low - for tubas and bassoons.

MISCELLANEOUS PARTS:

Piano. If you cannot fill in all five other parts, adding a piano player may give you all the extra harmony notes you need.
Drum Set. While not required, adding a drum set to your performances, especially when you are using ten or more players, will definitely enhance the presentation.

Today I made more than 18 calls about Semper Supra.

My goal in these calls was to find out WHO – what person or committee – is in charge of selecting the official song for the Space Force.

I did not expect the huge level of frustration I encountered. It is quite literally impossible to find a phone number or an email address that gets you to a live person. Of all the phone calls I made today, I only spoke to two live people, and I’ll tell you about them here in a bit.

For all the rest of the calls to “official” phone numbers, there was either a recording (U.S. Navy Band) with no way to leave a message or talk to a live person, or the offcial number didn’t work (U.S. Space Force HQ – “Your call cannot be completed at this time.”), or you could leave a message (USAF Band) but no callback yet, or it went to a wrong number … yes, it was intensely aggravating.

For the two live people I spoke to (one in the Pentagon, the other with the Marine Band), both were WONDERFUL people, and they helped as much as they could. The marine, SSgt Baran, actually went out of his way to try to find the information for me and then called me back. Now THAT’s the kind of great help you rarely find these days. I give enthusiastic kudos to both SSgt Baran and MSgt Hoffman at the Pentagon.

Among all these calls, I heard several unconfirmed rumors about the status of the official song for the Space Force: I heard they already had one; I heard it was in the “final phase” of being approved; I heard it was almost approved, but then some top brass shot it down for some reason… in any case, I was never able to find out if they DO have one already, or if it’s in process, or most importantly WHO I could contact to find out this information.

I eventually contacted a friend (Judy Shellenberger) from the Association of Concert Bands, who gave me the email address for the most recent (retired) commander of the USAF Band, and I emailed him, and he emailed me back very quickly, with the name and mailing address for the current USAF Band commander. So I wrote him a (US Mail!!) letter of inquiry about this tune and about my Moon Landing, USA work.

And that’s where I was at the end of the day. It was mostly frustrating, but at least there was a little bit of progress.

Transpositions Available for Each Part in the ENSEMBLE CONCERT BOOKS SERIES

What is a VIRTUAL CONCERT?

And how do we make one?

Semper Supra Blog

SS Status, 9 May 2022

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