Since the release of our first publication, the unaccompanied 'cello suites of J.S. Bach, we have had frequent requests to publish more Bach for the bass clarinet. With this volume, we make available two complete works from the Six Sonatas & Partitas, originally for solo violin.

The Sonatas & Partitas hold special importance for me, as they were assigned by my first teacher, Robert Main. They were to be practiced both as written, and then in transposition. This publication provides the transposed version, so that the pieces sound in the original key. Original range is also maintained throughout: played on bass clarinet, the pieces will sound one octave lower than the violin original; on soprano clarinet, at the same octave as the violin.

I think the pieces are both musically and technically challenging, and provide some of the best material available for teaching both phrasing and efficiency of breath.

Michael Davenport
April 2005