
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.
Claude Debussy's Scherzo, originally for 'cello, is remarkably effective in transcription for bass clarinet and piano. The single-movement work, with a duration of about 7 minutes, would make an excellent choice for contest, audition, or recital for the aspiring bass clarinet student. While the transcription, being accurate to original range and key, does require an extended-range instrument for some of the lowest notes, there is little use of the high range in this piece. The technical demands are also relatively modest.
Coming from early in Debussy's output, the work is more romantic than impressionistic in its language, with a lively opening theme contrasting with a lyrical section, all in 3/4 time. Although the work can be accurately dated to 1882, it remained unpublished during the composer's lifetime, and only started to become familiar to cellists after it was finally published in the 1990s.
Extended-range instrument required. Score: 9 pages, spiral bound; Part: 3 pages, booklet.
Listen to the work in its original instrumentation:
Kim Davenport
President
Duo Alea began performing music for bass clarinet and piano in 1996. As both 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 Bach Suites, the Alea catalog now includes over 250 titles. As performing musicians ourselves, 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.
In June 2020, we announced the creation of the Dolphy Prize for new works for bass clarinet by Black composers.
Would you like to be informed about additions to our catalog and other news? Join our e-mail list!