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.
While Wolfgang Gabriel has composed several important works for bass clarinet with piano, the Sonata Op.72 was his first work for the solo bass clarinet.
The centerpiece of the Sonata is an exquisite set of variations on an original theme which forms the 2nd movement; the linear sense and delicate writing displayed in this movement are simply wonderful. The variation idea is revisited in the 4th movement, a Passacaglia which is another example of this composer's mastery of the variation form. The opening Toccata and virtuosic, clever Scherzo complete the work. The Sonata is unusual in that although the writing is lyrical and expressive throughout, the composer regularly calls for the full span of the extended-range bass clarinet. This dramatic work has a duration of approximately 21 minutes.
This publication appears in the following syllabi/prescribed music lists:
Extended-range instrument required. Solo score: 19 pages.
PDF Edition
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Listen to Michael Davenport's performance of the second movement as you watch the score:
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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