Clarinets

introduction | piccolo clarinet in A-flat | piccolo clarinet in E-flat | clarinet in C | clarinets in B-flat & A | clarinet d’amore in G | basset horn in F | alto clarinet in E-flat | bass clarinet in B-flat | contralto clarinet in E-flat | contrabass clarinet in B-flat

Mid-range instruments > basset horn in F

General

The basset horn was one of Mozart’s favourite instruments in a time where its construction was very different to today’s model. The first draft of the Mozart Clarinet Concerto was written for a basset horn in G, reflecting his love of the sound of the instrument. Both the basset horn and alto clarinet underwent a streamlining of design in France during the second half of the 19th century, in the case of the basset horn making it more compact and easier to play, whilst retaining its range and sonic qualities. The modern basset horn may look like a mini bass clarinet but the sound is quite unique, slightly airy and reedy in the low register, glowing and bright in the clarion. Stockhausen fell in love with the basset horn and incorporated it in many of his large works, evoking the persona of EVA. The basset horn oozes potential and there is still much to be discovered here.

Nearby range and tone colour pairings: alto flute, oboe d’amore, cor anglais, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, bassoon, flügelhorn, horn, alto trombone, mid range percussion, viola, cello

Distant range and tone colour pairings: extremely high or low sounds from any instrumental group

Video example (18th century)
Video example (19th century)
Video example (20th century)

Notable repertoire:

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — Serenade No. 10 (Gran Partita) (1781) & Requiem (1791)
Felix Mendelssohn — Concert Pieces No. 1 & 2 (1832/33)
Richard Strauss — Serenades (1943-45)
Karlheinz Stockhausen — Susani (1984), Xi (1986), Harmonien (2006) and many more…
Samuel Andreyev — Sextet in Two Parts (2019)

Transposition hacks

sounding > written: think a perfect fifth higher [ + P5 ] • if the sounding notation is in bass clef, read as tenor clef
written > sounding: think a perfect fifth lower [ - P5 ]

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. 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.

Bass clef

Bass clef has been used since the 18th century when writing for clarinets capable of producing notes in the basset range of the instrument (written Eb3 to C3 or e♭ to c). As basset clarinets, today’s clarinet d’amore, basset horns and some very few types of alto clarinet fall into this category, a brief excursus into the use of bass clef when writing for clarinet is necessary at this point.

Almost all music for clarinet is written in treble clef due to the practice of playing the clarinet as a transposing instrument, i.e. a written middle C4 (c’) always sounds different depending on the clarinet played (see Transposition above). Earlier examples of music for clarinet show us that sometimes bass clef was used to delineate the context of musical material in the lowest register of the instrument (chalumeau) in contrast to higher passages in eg. the clarion register, that were written in treble clef. Ensemble or orchestral works in which the clarinet part essentially played the role of a bass or tenor voice for the duration, may have been written entirely in bass clef. Over time various conventions evolved that any low clarinet player must be able to navigate. The most common of these are French, German and Italian:

French notation: if bass clef is used at all, it is written one octave lower than the standard transposition, utilising the whole stave. Treble clef is read as normal. (see the above example)
German notation: bass clef and treble clef are written one octave lower, meaning that the clarinettist needs to play passages in treble clef one octave higher.
Italian notation: bass clef and treble clef both adhere to the instruments standard transposition, however much of the bass stave is rendered unusable.

If you as a composer or arranger want to use bass clef for a low clarinet part either in-part or entirely, I would recommend that you use bass clef as shown in the example above, in which the passages in bass clef are notated one octave lower. This enables a smoother visual transition from bass to treble clefs.