h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've seen the A soprano clarinet in woodwind catalogs, but I've never had a chance to play or hear it. I suppose it's probably limited to orchestral work. I *have* however, both heard and played (am playing) the Eb Soprano (Sopranino?) clarinet. It's about as long as my forearm, and is great fun. The response is great, and it has an absolutely BEAUTIFUL tone in its lower registers. It is, however, exceedingly difficult to keep in tune in the altissimo register, making it rather nasty to endure when you have to play up there. Right now, I'm using it for a competition piece, a duet with Eb flute. Our school's German Band, Die Junge Kameraden, has also used the Eb's for various pieces.

Does anyone (the writer of this excellent article, maybe) have any information of where the Eb fits into the clarinet family, other than being a good smaller and higher.

Also, does anyone know where one can find Oehler system clarinets in the U.S.???? I love the darker tone, and would love to get my hands on one, but I've never seen them in catalogs.

Güthwinë.

Eb Soprano

This clarinet is occasionally used in the orchestra because of its bright playful tone. As the previous poster said, it is very hard to keep in tune in the higher notes. It is sometimes called the Eb Sopranino.

The family of clarinets used for bands is more extensive, being entirely in either Bb or Eb:

Eb Soprano
Bb Soprano
Eb Alto
Bb Bass
Eb Contra-Alto
Bb Contra-Bass

Oehler clarinets are very difficult to find in America. You have to order them directly from Germany. They cost about five times the price of a professional Boehm system clarinet. Albert system clarinets which have the same tone as Oehlers are available second-hand in America on the eBay auction site. It should be possible to pick one up cheap.

The Oehler clarinet sound is usually described as brighter and lighter than the dark Boehm sound.

The A soprano is designed to sound exactly the same as the Bb Soprano. The only difference is that it plays everything a semitone lower. This makes it far easier to play in the sharp keys such as the key of D, A, E, B and F#. The Bb is easier to play in the flat keys: F, Bb, Eb, Ab and Db. Composers acknowledge this by writing music in sharp keys to be played on an A clarinet. If you play in an orchestra, you have to have both clarinets with you at all times. Most players use the same mouthpiece with the two clarinets and swap over when necessary.

Concerning the Clarinet family - I have heard stories of a clarinet yet smaller than the diminutive Eb.

Does anyone perchance know if this is true? From what I heard, this instrument is tuned to Ab, and therefore would be the Ab sopranino clarinet. I'm reasonably certain that this instrument hasn't been mass-produced for decades.

Also, I would like to make a definite contribution to the clarinet family... my teacher ordered a "basset horn" made by a clarinet maker in Toronto. This instrument, while very like the A clarinet in length, includes extra keys and is usually played with the benefit of a neck strap. It is for this instrument that Mozart orginally wrote his clarinet quintet. It is a truly remarkable instrument.

Clarinets forever!

There is certainly a dimunitive clarinet pitched in Ab, nearly an octave above the normal clarinet. This is known as the Ab Sopranino. It is apparently used in Italian marching bands. I have never seen one. I don't think it is ever used in orchestral music.

The A clarinet for which Mozart wrote his clarinet concerto is called a "Basset Clarinet". It is the same as a normal A clarinet but with a special extension at the bottom so that there are four extra notes at the bottom of the range. It can play down as far as written C (concert A). Mozart also wrote the Clarinet Quintet for such an instrument. Unfortunately, the original score of the Clarinet Concerto has been lost and the only thing we have now is an arrangement Mozart made for a standard A clarinet. Somebody in the 20th Century "reconstructed" the original based on a sketch of the start of the original (the "Winterthur fragment") and some educated guesswork. There is a very nice recording of this Basset Clarinet reconstruction played by Michael Collins. On the same CD, he plays an amazing arrangement of Beethoven's Violin Clarinet arranged for clarinet.

The Basset Horn is similar to the Basset Clarinet but is bigger and pitched in F. It is often made in the shape of a saxophone to make it more manageable, and looks very like and Alto Clarinet.

The Basset Horn also cropped up in certain pieces by Mozart - his Requiem in D minor is a good example (although I think most orchestras now just use normal clarinets). As for the E-flat clarinet - the only composer I can think of that extensively used this one was Shostakovich in a number of his symphonies. However, these parts appear to be really tough, as they tend to be in awkward key signatures! (e.g. last movement of 10th symphony in E minor)

By the way, do the Basset Clarinet and Basset Horn still exist? Does anyone on here play them? (heaven forbid!)

Mikeo.

The Basset Clarinet is designed to play only two pieces: Mozart's Clarinet Concerto and Mozart's Clarinet Quintet. As a result, it is very rare and expensive. I've seen Michael Collins playing one.

The Basset Horn is common enough as a middle clarinet between the soprano and the bass. In America, the Alto would be used. I've never seen a Basset Horn, but I believe that Mozart and Richard Strauss both wrote for it. It is supposed to have a tone very different from the soprano/alto/bass clarinet.

I'm lucky enough to have had the chance to play a Basset Clarinet - which I found surprisingly difficult. It took some time to get the hang of the lower notes, but once I cracked it it was wonderful having the extra range.

Another increasingly common clarinet is the C soprano, which seems to be popular because pupils don't need to learn to transpose immediately.

The C also has the advantage of being smaller, for little hands. The only ones I have come across are made entirely of plastic, hemlping with the weight factor too.

I got to play a a basset horn, just the once. (It belonged to my teacher and was called Bertie ). having played a low 'C' bass before, it didn't take long to get to grips with the thumb keys. However, a basset clarinet has eluded me. Shame really.

My rosewood Albert clarinet is in C, but I don't play it much since it leaks like a sieve and I can't play any of the lower notes. It needs complete repadding, but I'm too stingy to get it done.

In my experience, which is admittedly small, the higher pitched instruments require a greater breath pressure, which is bad for children - as opposed, of course, to the greater volume needed for lower instruments which many younger beginners haven't got yet.

That's true- it also requires a firm embouchure. You can't get away with as much on an Eb. But I guess the step from Bb to C isn't that vast. It's like Bb to A- noticeable, but easily surmountable.

I wouldn't have thought any kid beginning the clarinet would have to be able to transpose, there's plenty of music around written for the Bflat instrument. I've got an A and a Bb, the A is mainly for orchestra, but I've come across a Schumann piece with piano accompaniment which needs an A. Have never played a C, just have to transpose when that's needed, but a tone isn't really too bad.

I believe you can also get a D soprano clarinet, but I've never seen one or any music for one.

The ability to join in with other children is very important to many children starting out, and if you're playing from the school songbooks, for instance, you need to be able to transpose. I personally always teach transposition from the start, because it's such a useful and social skill, but then none of my pupils had C clarinets.

I think it's easier to learn if you start it quite young, though. (Although James learned to transpose at sight within weeks, and he was over thirty).

I believe that the mischievous 'Til Eulenspiegel' theme in 'Til Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks' by Richard Strauss is actually written for a D soprano, but it is always played on an Eb soprano.

I guess so, I did learn quite soon after I started, but that was because our teacher had done a really quick transposition of something and put in a D - which wasn't on the clarinet, so I did my own. I must have been an annoying kid. I agree it's a very useful skill.

Bits of the Rite of Spring are on a D- that requires you to double between Eb and D, so Stravinsky must have reckoned there was a difference. Or thought that we couildn't play in that many sharps. I've never seen one though.