Duration: 2 minutes

Description: Alfred Reed composed Five Dances for Five Clarinets in 1956 at the request of the LeBlanc instrument company to introduce the performance capabilities and tone of each instrument of the clarinet family. The five movements are based on musical styles from around the world: 1. Hoe-Down (E-flat Soprano Clarinet), 2. Sarabande (E-flat Alto Clarinet or Basset Horn in F), 3. Guaracha (Bass Clarinet), 4. Afro (E-flat Contra Alto or B-flat Contra Bass Clarinet), and 5. Hora (B-flat Clarinet). Each of the Five Dances is published separately with piano accompaniments which are still in print. The dancing Guracha for Bass Clarinet, like all of the movements, includes a detailed “Master Plan Lesson” written by Donald McCathren of LeBlanc, which are available for digital download. In addition to the versions with piano accompaniment, a version with band accompaniment of all five movements together was created by Yasuhiro Murakami, author of an annotated list of Reed’s works, based on Reed’s manuscript and is available from the publisher.

• SU866 / 2114484 5 DANCES FOR 5 CL: GUARACHA SOLO/PNO $17.99Buy Now