High-range instruments > clarinet in C
Range of the clarinet in C
General
The only common non-transposing instrument in the clarinet family, the C clarinet has a hint of the sound of the piccolo clarinets whilst still retaining relative warmth. In the orchestra, a group of two or three C clarinets can compete with the trumpets, having a brilliant, shiny sound. Mendelssohn used it in his incidental music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream in two instances: the Wedding March and the Funeral March, from which one might surmise, that he thought the sound fitting in the context of rituals. In modern music, it has been known to sound like a hyperactive, wound-up regular clarinet.
Nearby range and tone colour pairings: flute, oboe, oboe d’amore, cor anglais, soprano saxophone, trumpet, high/small percussion, violin
Distant range and tone colour pairings: low woodwind, low brass, large/low percussion, low strings
Video example (18th century)
Notable repertoire:
Ignaz Pleyel — Clarinet Concerto (1797) for clarinet and orchestra
Gioachino Rossini — The Barber of Seville (1816) opera buffa
Felix Mendelssohn — A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1826/42) stage play
Bedrich Smetana — The Bartered Bride (1866) opera buffa
Richard Strauss — Eine Alpensinfonie (1915) for orchestra
Richard Barrett — knospend-gespaltener (1992) for solo clarinet in C
James Erber — Strange Moments of Intimacy (1999) for solo clarinet in C
Clarinets in C, B-flat and A
These three clarinets appear most often in orchestral writing and formed the core of the clarinet section before the higher and lower types of clarinets began to appear. During the time in which clarinets had only very few keys, a clarinet with a different nominal pitch, or transposition, could turn a "difficult" key into an "easy" key. For example, an overture in D major would call for clarinets in B-flat to play in E major, which having four sharps for a clarinet with as little as 5 keys (the mechanical kind) would have been quite a challenge, depending on the music. Playing the overture in D major on a clarinet in A would mean the clarinettist could play in F major, which having only one flat is much easier. Today, in part due to the fully chromatic keywork of modern clarinets, the necessity to change between B-flat and A clarinets on account of key signature has been minimised, even though music that uses key signatures of six or seven sharps or flats is difficult on any instrument, depending on the kind of writing, and changing instruments because of this may be worthwhile. The individual sonic qualities of the B-flat and A clarinets and the slightly larger range of the A clarinet are not to be underestimated in their ability to impact your music.
Clarinets in C appeared perhaps least often however they were quite noticeable because of their considerably brighter timbre. Clarinettists could use the same mouthpiece on a C clarinet so this was minimal inconvenience. C clarinets were used regularly in orchestral music from the mid 18th through to the early 20th century but their popularity has diminished since modern Bb and A clarinets now cover the full range of technical requirements needed, and so many — but not all — players have been transposing C clarinet parts at sight on B-flat clarinet for a century or so. The use of C clarinets today is something vaguely akin to historical performance practice: they are being used to get closer to the sound that composers wanted and there are some very good examples for this, particularly in the works of Ludwig van Beethoven, Richard Strauss and Gustav Mahler.
Basset clarinets in C, B-flat and A
The basset extension of the clarinet involves building an instrument with four extra chromatic pitches. It’s referred to as an “extension” because the notion of a basset clarinet “extends” the idea of the range of the instrument downwards. An extension does not mean that these low notes can be applied at will. The instrument (or at least the lower joint of the instrument) has to be build like this from the outset. The term “basset” comes from Italian: bassetto being the diminutive of basso and therefore meaning “small bass”. Indeed any kind of basset clarinet could be the bass voice of a small ensemble. The common types of basset clarinets are built with nominal pitches of C, B-flat and A, the last of which being the most popular thanks to the version of the Mozart Clarinet Concerto performed on basset clarinet in A. You may have to ask around a fair bit to locate an instrument in C or B-flat, but they do exist. Basset clarinets can play just as high as their standard range counterparts, but possess the four extra low “basset” notes (written) Eb3, D3, C#3 and C3.
