Thoughts

The contralto, contra-alto or contra alto clarinet?

I've been playing a contralto / contra-alto / contra alto clarinet since 2021 and have often wondered about the variety of names for the instrument. Here are some thoughts to do with the way in which this variety came about, and still exists today. Contra (in Latin) means “against or opposing” and this meaning is reflected in our English words such as contradiction or contraindication, but also led to the evolution of words with the prefixes counter– (which alone means the same as contra): counterclockwise, counterpart, counteract etc. In a musical sense, both contra– and counter– have come to indicate an instrument, voice, role, part that is, well, contradictory, complementary, lower or even higher, than its namesake without the contra–/counter–prefix.

When we are talking about instrument names, I think that it's helpful—and necessary—to look at other closely related languages for perspective. English is not often the starting point for musical terminology and many instrument names have their roots in Italian. The clarinet family is no exception. If we start with the stringed instrument, the double bass:

English: double bass

German: Kontrabass (yes, German nouns are always capitalised)

French: contrebasse

Italian: contrabbasso

In this case, English prefers the qualifying ‘double’ to denote being lower than a bass, but the three other languages use the Latin prefix contra–, or the Germanic equivalent, Kontra–. Some double bass players in the English-speaking world do use the term ‘contrabass’, but this is rarer than ‘double bass’ or just ‘bass’ (which is of course an abbreviation of double bass/contrabass). Wind orchestra scores will use the term ‘string bass’ to distinguish it from the other bass wind instruments, or to denote that it is indeed a stringed instrument in a group otherwise comprised of wind instruments. Whilst the instrument does strengthen the bass-line, it is often found scored in the contrabass [ E, / E1 — B, / B1 ] part of its range. The connection between contra– and being an octave lower is not applicable to the double bass/contrabass because not all instruments have a low C extension or fifth low C string, and the tuning of the strings [ (C, / C1) — E, / E1 — A, / A1 — D / D2 — G / G2 ] in all cases is not simply one octave lower than the violoncello [ C / C2 — G / G2 — d / D3 — a / A3 ]. Let’s look at the contrabassoon, another common ‘contra-instrument’:

English: contrabassoon

German: Kontrafagott

French: contrebasson

Italian: controfagotto

Again, the prefix "contra" indicates being lower than a bassoon, and in this case, an octave lower. The contrabassoon’s range includes the entire contra-octave [ C, / C1 — B, / B1 ] and dives into the subcontra-octave being able to produce the pitches [ B,, / B0 ] and [ B♭,, / B♭0 ] as well as, on some models, [ A,, / A0 ]. Musical notation treats the contrabassoon as an octave-transposing instrument, written in C but sounding one octave lower than written. The contrabassoon is sometimes called a double bassoon in English, but less often. Both of these instruments—the double bass/contrabass and contrabassoon, both of which are older than the clarinet—cement the notion of the prefix contra– denoting an instrument that is lower.

If we take a look at the usage of the Latin prefix ‘contra’ in vocal ranges, we find at least three of them: contralto (lower than alto), countertenor (higher than tenor), contrabass (lower than bass). Here we find both prefixes contra- and counter- in use. The similarity is, is that they indicate vocal ranges that are lower or higher, but the main difference is a fact of nature: they do not and cannot imply a vocal range which is one octave lower or higher than its counterpart. Vocal ranges are situated in close proximity to one another, for many different reasons, but the primary one is that the human voice cannot extend from the lowest to the highest octave of the piano, resulting in the difference between two different voice types sometimes only being 4-5 semitones.

So in terms of the usage of the prefix contra– with our beloved contralto/contra-alto/contra alto clarinet, contra— is useful in the sense that it tells us that this instrument is both lower and an octave lower than the alto clarinet. In terms of range, contra — which also applies to the range of pitches between [ C, / C1 ] and [ B, / B1 ] (the lowest complete octave of the piano) — is an apt term for the instrument because its range extends downwards to either sounding [ F#, / F#1 ] or [ E♭, / E♭1 ] in both cases covering at least half of the contra-octave. The instrument can therefore function as a contra-instrument, perhaps in absence of a contrabass clarinet, providing octave support for the bass and alto clarinets or functioning alone as the bass/pedal.

Then we come to the tricky bit: contralto or contra-alto or contra alto?

The clarinet family was conceived long before the saxophone and sarrusophone families and therefore only adheres to a very approximate correlation with the family of vocal ranges. The historical weight of a plethora of clarinet instruments being created and defined over a long period of time, as opposed to the very organised saxophone/sarrusophone, is impossible to deny and historically improper to reject. The saxophone family makes sense because the instruments' transpositions are so well organised, being predominantly in Bb or Eb (soprillo in Bb, sopranino in Eb, soprano in Bb, alto in Eb, tenor in Bb, baritone in Eb, bass in Bb etc). Clarinets are all over the place, in part because instruments and keywork were being invented in the 18th century in order to deal with different (tonal) keys and not with a completely pre-meditated chromatic system. The clarinet’s chromatic keywork, which allows it to play comfortably in all keys only came about in the late 19th century. Today we still use clarinets in A, Bb, C and piccolo clarinets in D, Eb, G, Ab due to this historical baggage, providing us with three instruments that could be considered ‘soprano’ and four instruments that could be considered ‘sopranino’. We have three instruments that could be considered ‘alto’ (d’amore, basset horn and alto). There is no officially named tenor clarinet. The so-called alto and bass clarinets produce pitches much lower than their vocal namesakes. For this reason, an adherence to vocal ranges when naming clarinets is a particularly fraught task. But hey, did someone mention the alto clarinet?

English: alto clarinet

German: Altklarinette

French: clarinette alto

Italian: clarinetto contralto (!!) --> also sassofono contralto (in Eb) & flauto contralto (in G)

Here we run into a problem: Italian has for some reason gone with the term contralto to designate the nominal range of the alto clarinet and alto saxophone. Alto simply means ‘high’, which for an English-speaker sensibility is somewhat grating, because we associate the term ‘alto’ with the idea of less than high. Perhaps the contra-prefix in this case refers to both instruments' ability to play much lower than the alto vocal range (alto clarinet down to [ F# / F#2 ] and alto saxophone to [ c# / C#3]), however this wouldn't apply to the alto flute (It. flauto contralto) because its low range corresponds exactly with that of the normal alto vocal range. According to the Italian Wikipedia, the term contralto relating to the alto vocal range is a shortening of the much older term contratenor altus and is simply the Italian equivalent of the word alto/Alt in other Western European languages. However, in all three cases (clarinetto contralto, sassofono contralto and flauto contralto) it is indicated that the shortened form alto in combination with the instrument name is also in use. It may be a matter of time until this term (when used with instruments of the alto variety) in Italian is eroded to simply alto.

The elision of the prefix contra- with a vocal range determiner that starts with a vowel, in this case alto, is a standard linguistic manoeuvre and literally means lower than alto (the elision of contra- and -bass is not possible due the consonant at the start of bass). A contralto clarinet is therefore a clarinet that is pitched lower than the alto clarinet, and whose range has nothing to do with the corresponding contralto vocal range, because the clarinet is not a voice. Then, if we take into account the usage of the prefix contra- in instrument nomenclature (and in the English language, disregarding Italian for a moment) then contra- pertains to instruments that are lower or an octave lower than their counterparts. The combination of all three of these factors produces the instrument name, when used in English, contralto clarinet. This however is not to say that contra-alto or contra alto clarinet are wrong. These terms have evolved justly—just as all words do—because people use them. One of the factors that influence how we use instrument names is the naming practices of instrument builders.

Here is an overview of the nomenclature used by the three main manufacturers of contralto clarinets:

Leblanc: in the advertising material of the original Leblanc low clarinets in EEb and BBb the terms contra-alto and contrabass (in French, contre-alto and contrebasse) were preferred.

Selmer: in the advertising material of the rosewood instruments in EEb and BBb the terms contralto and contrabass (in French, contralto and contrebasse) are preferred.

Buffet: This company makes contralto clarinets but no contrabass clarinets and their website is in three of the above discussed languages: English: contra alto clarinet (without hyphen); German: Kontraaltklarinette; French: clarinette contralto — the reason why German prefers the term Kontraaltklarinette is because “alto” = “Alt” (voice type) and the fact that most instrument names become one word. The theoretical construction “Kontraltoklarinette” would break too many rules of German spelling and elision.

Evidently these three manufacturers also cannot agree on the nomenclature, the French terms actively disregarding the possible confusion with their Latin-based language neighbours, Italy. All three spelling variants are present and so—of course—the jury will be out for a long time to come. The main thing is, everything matters, even the way we use and spell words. Most of them aren’t broken so there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. If we remain tolerant of regional variations and acknowledge thoughtful linguistic discussion, the world may be just a little bit more peaceful.

As a professional performer who deals with almost the entire clarinet family on a daily basis, I have come to refer to the clarinet family using the following groupings and terms. This list is indicative of my practice only:

high-range clarinets:

piccolo clarinets in D/Eb/G/Ab --> avoiding soprano/sopranino (DE: kleine; FR: petite; IT: piccolo)

clarinets in A/Bb/C --> avoiding soprano, they don't need a qualifying voice-type, it's a clarinet: it plays really high and really low (relative to other wind instruments)

basset clarinets in A/Bb --> referring to the extended range of the standard instrument (basset derived from the Italian bassetto meaning ‘small bass’)

mid-range clarinets:

clarinet d'amore in G --> historically referenced term for G clarinets with a bulbous bell (also clarinet d’amour, clarinetto dolce). Did you know that the plural of clarinet d’amore is clarinets d’amore?

basset horns in F/G --> surprisingly, this term, now over 300 years old, hasn't been modified or questioned even though today’s instrument is a significant departure from the earliest, curved instruments with a horn-like bell. Today’s instrument is essentially an alto clarinet in F/G.

alto clarinet in Eb --> one could also argue that this is a tenor and not an alto clarinet, but it’s really both. Having the same transposition as the alto saxophone, and yet, being closer in tessitura to the bass clarinet (which would render it a tenor instrument if we were adhering to vocal ranges, but we aren’t). The alto clarinet is the only surviving instrument from a group of alto-like instruments, having nominal pitches anywhere from [ d / D3 ] to [ a♭ / A♭3 ] and still being called an alto clarinet (with a very passionate following). When you consider that almost all clarinets can function as alto instruments thanks to the generally large range of a clarinet, whether this instrument is truly an alto or tenor clarinet is a moot point.

low-range clarinets:

bass clarinet in Bb --> bass in woodwind instrument-speak most often equating to one octave lower than the standard instrument (bass flute in C, bass oboe in C)

contralto clarinet in Eb --> one octave lower than the alto clarinet

contrabass clarinet in Bb --> one octave lower than the bass clarinet