Guillaume Balay (1871-1943) served in the French military as a prolific Cornet player, having won first place in the 1894 Cornet Award competition at the National Academy of Music in Paris. His compositions were popular in the Cornet and brass repertoire at the time, including his Competition Piece for Cornet with Piano accompaniment.

This Balay work remains within the brass repertoire to this day and is suitable for advanced level players as an audition or competition piece as indicated by the title, as well as a performance work. Competition Piece contains use of cadenza passages, variation in time signature, semiquaver flourishes, articulations, complex rhythms and chromaticism, amongst other aspects. This quirky piece by Balay provides the advanced Cornet player with a fun, alternative work which will show off their technical ability.