
This site is home to Alea Publishing & Recording, specializing in music for the bass clarinet.
We offer a growing catalog of creative, artistic transcriptions and new works for bass clarinet solo & ensemble.
About the Music
Spanish Raga is a work for for violin, bass clarinet and piano. Program note courtesy of the composer:
This piece evolved out of my deep interest and absorption of Indian and Spanish music. Indian music with its spirituality and Spanish music with its colour and passion, have shared a common root for over a 1000 years when it is thought that nomadic tribes from Rajastan India travelled westward settling in Spain, becoming known as Roma or gypsies.
"Spanish Raga" unravels slowly with a haunting melody shared between Bass Clarinet and Violin, in the flavour of the Indian raga scale "Bhairavi" (with its lowered 2nd, 6th, and 7th degrees). The melodies are ornamented and quasi improvised back and forth as in a raga. The energy, vibrancy and rhythmic drive of Spanish Flamenco propel the piece toward a dramatic dissonant climax which resolves in the memory of the opening melody played by the Clarinet accompanied by shimmering sonorities of the Violin and Piano.
Score: 26 pages, spiral bound; parts: 4 pages each, booklet. Extended-range instrument required for bass clarinet part.
Hard Copy Edition
Add this item to your cart if you wish to have the hard-copy music shipped to you. The composer has also authorized the sale of this piece via PDF download: click here to choose that option.
About the Composer
Colleen Athparia is a an internationally recognized classical pianist with a distinguished career as a performer, pedagogue, recording artist and composer. She holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from University of Toronto and a Masters of Music in Performance with distinction from Indiana University. As a composer of the Canadian Music Centre, Colleen has written many chamber works for bass clarinet for her contemporary quartet “Ensemble Resonance”, who have performed in Carnegie Hall. Some include “Songs of Susanna” (soprano, violin, bass clarinet, piano) set to poems by noted Canadian author Margaret Atwood, and “Lure of the Loon,” based on the life of Canadian artist Tom Thomson.She has also written works for Children’s choir and a recent work “Lament for the Lost Children” scored for string quartet, piano, trumpet and percussion, honoring indigenous peoples for Truth & Reconciliation Days at Mount Royal University. One of her compositions has recently been published in the 2022 Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) Piano series. Heralded by the National Post as one of the top four Canadian pianists of contemporary music, she was honoured in Ottawa as one of 50 esteemed musicians who have contributed significantly to the Canadian music scene over the past 50 years. In 2017 Colleen was awarded “RCM Teacher of Distinction for Alberta” as a leader in the field of music education.
Kim Davenport
President
Duo Alea, the father-daughter duo of Michael and Kimberly Davenport, began performing music for bass clarinet and piano in 1996. As performers searching for new repertoire and teachers working with students eager to develop as performers, it quickly became clear that there was a need for more repertoire featuring the bass clarinet. Filling this need became the mission of Alea Publishing & Recording.
Since our first publication in 1997, the Alea catalog has now grown to include over 300 titles. We pride ourselves on the accuracy and quality of our sheet music, as well as our ability to ship directly to customers around the world.
We are proud of the diversity of our catalog in terms of the inclusion of works by composers and arrangers from around the world. We are interested in continuing to expand this diversity, representing musical ideas from around the world.
Following Michael's passing in 2019, Kim has taken over solo management of Alea Publishing. In 2020, Alea established the Dolphy Prize, an annual composition award for new works for bass clarinet by black composers.
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