The Conn-o-Sax as a solo instrument.
Last May I performed Jack Stamp's poignant and haunting "Elegy" (originally for English Horn and Band) with the amazing Heart of Texas Concert Band, conducted by Mark Rogers.
Jack Stamp is a celebrated American conductor and composer with over sixty published compositions. In 1993, he formed the Keystone Wind Ensemble, comprising students, alumni and professors at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, which has been recorded on 16 albums.
Stamp wrote about "Elegy"
“Elegy” originally for english horn and band was commissioned by Kenneth Ayoob in memory of his father. The work is somewhat programmatic, dealing first with the stark reality of a terminal illness and death. The solo English horn appears out of the chaos in a lonely, mournful recitative. The work then evolves into a statement about life and the wonderful memories we have of loved ones. The slow melody in this work is one of my personal favorites."
I'm playing "Elegy" on the Connosax. With no adaptation or transposition necessary, the written English Horn part is played without modification.