Soprano clarinet
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The soprano clarinets are a sub-family of the clarinet family. They include the most common types of clarinets, and indeed are often referred to as simply "clarinets".
Among the soprano clarinets are the B♭ clarinet, the most common type, whose range extends from D below middle C (written E) to about the C two octaves above the C on the staff (or three octaves above middle C); the A and C clarinets, sounding respectively a semitone lower and a whole tone higher than the B♭ clarinet; and the low G clarinet, sounding yet a whole tone lower than the A, rare in western music but popular in the folk music of Turkey. While some writers reserve a separate category of sopranino clarinets for the E♭ and D clarinets,[1] these are more usually regarded as soprano clarinets as well.
Clarinets in C are common in music of the classical period and in some later music, particularly opera.
There have also been soprano clarinets in C, A, and B♭ with curved barrels and bells marketed under the names Saxonette, Claribel, and Clariphon.
Shackleton lists also obsolete "sopranino" clarinets in (high) G, F, and E, and soprano clarinets in B and A♭. The G "sopranino", only a half step lower than the A♭ piccolo clarinet, was popular during the Biedermeier period in Vienna for playing Schrammelmusik.
[edit] References
- ^ Nicholas Shackleton. "Clarinet", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (accessed 21 February 2006), grovemusic.com (subscription access).
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