Mid-range instruments > alto clarinet in E-flat
Range of the alto clarinet in E-flat. Some alto clarinets are now being made with a range to low C [ c / C3 ] sounding [ E♭ / E♭2 ].
Nomenclature
English: alto clarinet in E-flat
French: clarinetto alto en Mi-bemol
German: Altklarinette in Es
Italian: clarinetto alto in Mi-bemolle
General
The alto clarinet in E-flat is today the lowest mid-range clarinet in regular use. Clarinets with a nominal pitch lower than E♭3 / e♭ but higher than B♭2 / B♭ would be considered very rare. The alto clarinet exhibits a reedy, rich low register and glowing upper register and can be played just as virtuosically as any other clarinet, in the right hands. Due to its regular use in wind orchestra, many clarinet manufacturers have built high-quality, professional instruments (Buffet Crampon, Selmer, Yamaha) but also affordable instruments for non-professional players (eg. Bundy, Vito).
As with any clarinet, intonation is a challenge that can only be overcome with precise workmanship and practise. Due to the lack of a large professional market (when compared to the E♭, B♭, A and bass clarinet) manufacturers have invested less time and resources into producing instruments with extremely good intonation (a clarinet with perfect intonation doesn‘t exist), so players have to find ways to deal with that. This shouldn‘t be a deterrent when considering writing for the instrument, but all the more motivation to talk to the player and discuss the instrument‘s strengths and weaknesses.
The alto clarinet has a passionate following thanks to its place in the wind orchestra: the part is often played by only one player and is perhaps not the first choice of all clarinettists. Understandably, alto clarinettists defend their choice passionately (if it was one) and develop pride in playing the instrument. This instrumental profile is rare and a comparable one is difficult to find: the alto clarinet is a fixed member of the wind orchestra whilst being a member of an instrument family found in the symphony orchestra (from the Classical period onwards). Comparable instruments, say, the alto flute, cor anglais, flügelhorn or alto trombone do not always feature in wind orchestra scores, nor in the symphony orchestra. That being said, one comparison does spring to mind: the euphonium. The euphonium, like the alto clarinet, appears in almost all wind orchestra works but very rarely in the symphony orchestra.
One can generalise, based on existing works and the transposition choices of composers, that the alto clarinet in F and therefore, by default, the basset horn is the instrument used in symphony orchestra, and that the alto clarinet in E-flat is the instrument used in wind orchestra. This has absolutely no bearing on the choice of instrument for solo or chamber works. This is solely reliant on your experience with the instrument, your perception of its sonic characteristics and your needs in terms of range.
Please refer to this very interesting DMA thesis on the alto clarinet titled “The Unrealised Potential of the Alto Clarinet”.
Notable repertoire (for alto clarinet in E-flat and not in F or G):
Joseph/Josef Holbrooke scored for the alto clarinet as a regular fixture of the symphony orchestra, however the instrument is always notated in F. This composer should be mentioned though, because of his concerted efforts to increase the presence of the alto clarinet in the repertoire. One can only assume that the transposition in F was to maintain interchangeability with the basset horn, even though the term ‘alto clarinet’ appears more frequently. Igor Stravinsky scored for an alto clarinet in F in his Threni however this part would need to be played on a basset horn due to the range to low C.
Percy Grainger — Lincolnshire Posy (1937) (as well as many other works for symphonic wind orchestra)
Igor Stravinsky — Elegy for J.F.K. (1964) for mezzo-soprano or baritone, 2 clarinets in B-flat and alto clarinet in E-flat
Norman Heim — Sonata for alto clarinet and piano, Op. 111 (1990)
Vicente Atria — The Pilgrimage of Paracelsus (2026)
Transposition hacks
sounding > written: think a minor third lower then one octave higher [ - m3 + Œ ] • read treble as if soprano clef
written > sounding: think a minor third higher then one octave lower [ + m3 - Π]
Mid-range clarinets (clarinet d’amore, basset horns in G and F, and alto clarinet)
The group of mid-range clarinets is less well-known when compared to the high- and low-range instruments but I am particularly fond of them. The definitions of and boundaries between mid-range clarinets were for a time unclear (i.e. clarinets d’amore, basset horns and alto clarinets were being made in all sorts of transpositions below middle C) but today, these have crystallised into a trinity of useful transpositions each a whole tone lower than the other (G - F - E-flat), and each instrument possessing unique sonic qualities: clarinet d’amore in G, basset horns in G and F and alto clarinet in E-flat.
At the time that instrument makers began experimenting with lower/alto clarinets, a trend was set in motion by the oboe family to do with bell shapes. The oboe d’amore had come about around 1717 and was used widely in masses and cantatas particularly in combination with plaintive, mournful music. The covered (=less rich in overtones) sound of the instrument has inspired composers to write for it, from Graupner and Bach through to Ravel and Debussy. Clarinet makers around 1740 began experimenting with bell shapes and found that the same kind of covered sound was attainable. Whilst the clarinet d’amore and its gentle sound didn’t enjoy the same success as the oboe d’amore, the instrument was employed in various guises until the mid-19th century.
The mid-range clarinets are the highest clarinets that exhibit slight bends over the course of the instrument on account of their size. The clarinet d’amore was the first instrument to exhibit a bend in the form of a curved metallic (mostly) or wooden (rarely) neck. The earliest basset horns however were first built in a completely curved form (much like the oboe da caccia) ending in a box — in which the bore makes several final curves — and a metal bell. The box enabled a range to low written C3 (c) (also known as the basset range, lit. small bass) and the metallic bell/horn was directly inspired by both the oboe da caccia and brass instruments, earning the instrument the name basset horn, which despite the modernisation of the instrument to look like an alto clarinet, has stuck. The modern alto clarinet in E-flat is considered to have developed after the d’amore and basset horn, even though low, straight clarinets (from nominal pitch G downwards) with flared, wooden bells in the 18th century were generally named alto clarinets. The alto clarinet was built in G, F and E, however developments in the regions now known as France and southern Belgium helped the instrument to migrate to its final nominal pitch of E-flat. Both the basset horn and alto clarinet have curved metallic necks and small, saxophone-like bells in the case of instruments manufactured in France, or upward pointing flared wooden bells if manufactured in Germany. Even though today the term alto clarinet applies only to the instrument with a nominal pitch of E-flat, there are major works in which an alto clarinet in F with a range to low written C3 / c is called for, which equates to the range of the basset horn in F.
A clarinet d’amore in G (Schwenk & Seggelke) and an alto clarinet in E-flat (Dietz Klarinetten) both with basset range to low C were invented in the 21st century. With technological advances making even better mid-range clarinets a reality and a resurgence of interest in rare instruments from both composers and clarinettists becoming evident, the future may be very bright for the often neglected and misunderstood mid-range clarinets.