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The 'piccolo clarinets' are members of the clarinet family, smaller and higher pitched than the more familiar soprano clarinets in E♭ and D. None is common, but the most often used piccolo clarinet is the A♭ clarinet, playing nearly an octave higher than the B♭ clarinet. Shackleton also lists obsolete instruments in C, B♭, and A. Some writers call these 'sopranino clarinets' or 'octave clarinets'. The boundary between the piccolo and soprano clarinets is not well-defined, and the rare instruments in G and F might be considered as either.
Clarinets pitched in A♭ appeared frequently in European wind bands, particularly in Spain and Italy, at least through the middle of the 20th century, and are called for in the stage-band parts for several operas by Verdi.^[1]
Cecil Forsyth associated the high instruments with Austria, writing, "For the sake of completeness it may be added that Clarinets in (high) F, and even in (high) A♭ are occasionally used abroad. The latter instrument is regularly employed in the Austrian military bands."^[2] A famous example of extensive use of a high clarinet in a Viennese small ensemble was the Schrammel quartet, consisting of two violins (the brothers Johann and Josef Schrammel), a bass guitar, and G clarinet, played by Georg Dänzer, during the 1880s.

Size comparison among the A♭, E♭, and B♭ clarinets

The A♭ clarinet is not uncommon in clarinet choir arrangements--for instance, those of Lucien Calliet, including Mozart's ''Marriage of Figaro'' overture--though the instrument is often optional or cued in other voices. There are parts for A♭ clarinet in Béla Bartók's ''Scherzo for Piano and Orchestra,'' op. 2 ("mostly in unison with the E♭ or piccolo") and in John Tavener's ''Celtic Requiem'' (1969). Several chamber works of Hans-Joachim Hespos employ the A♭ clarinet,^[3]
including the wild ''go'' which also features soprano sarrusophone, heckelphone, and tárogató. Hespos also uses the A♭ clarinet in the orchestral work ''Interactions''.^[4]

Size comparison of the B♭, E♭, and A♭ reeds; note the greater difference between A♭ and E♭ reed sizes than between E♭ and B♭.

At least four manufacturers currently produce A♭ clarinets: Leblanc, L. A. Ripamonti, Orsi Wind Instruments and Schwenk and Seggelke. As of 2003, the Leblanc A♭ was only being made under special order.^[5] Ripamonti produces both German and French system (including Full Boehm) A♭ clarinets. Schwenk and Seggelke make German system clarinets in A♭ and high G.

Contents

Notes

References

External Links

Notes

1. Basil Tschaikov, "The high clarinets," in Colin Lawson, ''The Cambridge companion to the clarinet'', (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), pp. 52-55.
2. Forsyth, ''Orchestration,'' second edition, p. 281 (Dover Reprint) ISBN 978-0486243832
3. Hans-Joachim Hespos - Complete work (engl.) - Ensemble works
4. Hans-Joachim Hespos - Complete work (engl.) - Orchestral works
5. Post by Diz to the Clarinet List, 2003-06-27 based on information from Leblanc Sydney

References

★ Nicholas Shackleton. "Clarinet", ''Grove Music Online'', ed. L. Macy (accessed 21 February 2006), grovemusic.com (subscription access).

External Links

★ L. A. Ripamonti's A♭ clarinet page

★ Schwenk and Seggelke's A♭ clarinet page, including a recording of a work for Schrammel quartet