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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 Work - courtesy of the composer
Originally for bassoon, Harkening was conceived with the idea that all of its melodic, harmonic, rhythmic, and formal language would be restricted to that which would plausibly be in use by a leading composer of the late nineteenth or early twentieth centuries, i.e. a late-Romantic tonal vocabulary. The reason for this is largely the result of my having taught chromatic tonal harmony in core music theory classes and graduate seminars for many years—something from this was bound to come out in a composition of mine sooner or later—as well as my lifelong adoration of the music by composers such as Gustav Mahler, Anton Bruckner, and Richard Strauss. Harkening was not an attempt to write a pastiche of the music of such composers, but rather to explore what a composition of my own might be like were I a composer from that time period. The opening phrase was composed for a handout I made on the subject of ornamentation for my students, as an example exploring a late-Romantic melodic turn.
The work has a duration of ca. 4 minutes. Extended-range instrument required. Solo score: 5 pages, loose-leaf to facilitate page turns.
About the Composer
Ryan M. Hare teaches composition, music theory, and bassoon at Washington State University, where he is an associate professor of music. He serves as Composer in Residence for the Washington Idaho Symphony, and his compositions have been heard in numerous venues and festivals throughout the United States, and also in the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Chile, Thailand, and the Philippines. Hare was recently named "Composer of the Year" by the Washington State Music Teacher's Association, which included a paid commission. Other honors include a prestigious Artist Trust Fellowship, grants from New Music USA's "MetLife Creative Connections" program, the ASCAP Plus Award, and commissions and premieres from the Washington Idaho Symphony, Lake Forest College Chamber Orchestra, University of Idaho Vandaleers Concert Choir, and Affinity Chamber Player, to name a few.
Hare earned his Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition from the University of Washington; his other degrees include a Master of Music in Composition from Ithaca College and a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Oregon State University. He also studied at the 1996 Ferienkurse für neue Musik in Darmstadt, Germany. Prior to his arrival at WSU, Dr. Hare held appointments at the University of Washington, Seattle University, Seattle Pacific University, and Oregon State University, and taught composition and bassoon at Music Works Northwest.
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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