Bass clarinet

Classification Woodwind instrument (single-reed) A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified for the purpose of making music. ... A woodwind instrument is an instrument in which sound is produced by blowing against an edge or by a vibrating with air a thin piece of wood known as a reed. ... A single-reed instrument uses only one reed to produce sound. ... Playing range Related instruments Clarinet family In music, the range of a musical instrument is the distance from the lowest to the highest pitch it can play. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified for the purpose of making music. ... Clarinet E♭ clarinet Basset clarinet Basset horn Alto clarinet Contra-alto clarinet Contrabass clarinet More articles Category:Clarinetists

The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B♭ clarinet, it is usually pitched in B♭ (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B♭), but it plays notes an octave below the B♭ clarinet.^[1] Bass clarinets in other keys, notably C and A, also exist, but are very rare. Two soprano clarinets: a Bâ™­ clarinet (left, with capped mouthpiece) and an A clarinet (right, with no mouthpiece). ... Eâ™­ clarinet with Oehler system keywork. ... The basset-horn is a musical instrument, a member of the clarinet family. ... Basset horn The basset horn (sometimes written basset-horn) is a musical instrument, a member of the clarinet family. ... The alto clarinet is a wind instrument of the clarinet family. ... A contra-alto clarinet made by the clarinet-making company Selmer. ... The contrabass clarinet is the largest common member of the clarinet family. ... A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified for the purpose of making music. ... Two soprano clarinets: a Bâ™­ clarinet (left, with capped mouthpiece) and an A clarinet (right, with no mouthpiece). ... The soprano clarinets are a sub-family of the clarinet family. ... A transposing instrument is a musical instrument whose music is written at a pitch different from concert pitch. ... For other uses, see Octave (disambiguation). ...

Description

Most modern bass clarinets are straight-bodied, with a small upturned silver-colored metal bell and a curved metal neck. Early examples varied in shape, some having a doubled body making them look similar to bassoons. The bass clarinet is fairly heavy and is supported either with a neck strap or with an adjustable peg attached to its body. While the upturned metal bell makes the bass clarinet look similar to a saxophone, the two instruments are fundamentally different. Bass clarinet bodies are most often made of grenadilla or African Blackwood, or (more commonly for student instruments) plastic resin, while saxophones are typically made entirely of metal. (All-metal bass clarinets do exist, but are rare.) More significantly, all clarinets including the bass have a bore which is basically the same diameter along the body of the instrument. This cylindrical bore differs from the saxophone's conical bore and gives the clarinet its dark tone and low pitch; importantly it also causes a clarinet to overblow at the twelfth compared with the saxophone's octave. The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers and occasionally even higher. ... The saxophone (colloquially referred to as sax) is a conical-bored musical instrument usually considered a member of the woodwind family. ... Grenadilla is a name given to a number of different African black woods, most commonly Dalbergia melanoxylon (sometimes known as Mpingo). ... Binomial name Dalbergia melanoxylon Guill. ... The bore of a wind instrument is its interior chamber that defines a flow path through which air travels and is set into vibration to produce sounds. ... Overblowing is producing a different note in a wind instrument by forcing air harder. ...

The bass clarinet sounds an octave lower than the B-flat soprano clarinet. While the range of the latter starts at a written low E (sounding D below middle C), most bass clarinets have keywork to enable at least a low E-flat (sounding D-flat a half step above the cello's lowest C), and most professional and advanced bass clarinetists own instruments with extensions down to a C (sounding B-flat a whole step below the cello's lowest C) a full octave below written middle C. At concert pitch this note is the B-flat below the second ledger line below the bass staff, or B-flat₁ in scientific pitch notation. As with all wind instruments, the upper limit of the range depends on the quality of the instrument and the skill of the performer. According to Aber and Lerstad, who give fingerings up to C₈, the highest note commonly encountered in modern solo literature is the E below that (sounding D₆, the first D above the treble clef).^[2] This gives the bass clarinet a usable range of over four octaves, quite close to the range of the bassoon; indeed, many bass clarinetists perform works originally intended for bassoon or cello because of the plethora of literature for those two instruments and the scarcity of solo works for the bass clarinet. In ensemble writing, notes much higher than about written C₆ are uncommon.^{[citation needed]} In Western music, the expression middle C refers to the note C or Do located exactly between the two staves of the grand staff, quoted as C4 in note-octave notation (also known as scientific pitch notation). ... This article is about the stringed musical instrument. ... This article is about the stringed musical instrument. ... This article or section may be confusing for some readers, and should be edited to be clearer or more simplified. ...

Uses

Michael Lowenstern playing bass clarinet

The bass clarinet has been regularly used in scoring for symphony orchestra since the late 19th century, becoming more common during the middle and latter part of the 20th century. In recent years, the bass clarinet has also seen a growing repertoire of solo literature including compositions for the instrument alone, or accompanied by piano, orchestra, or other ensemble. It is also used in wind bands, in clarinet choirs, marching bands, and in film scoring, and has played a minor, but persistent, role in jazz. Michael Lowenstern (b. ... For other uses, see Orchestra (disambiguation). ... A short grand piano, with the lid up. ... A wind band, also called concert band, symphonic band, or wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments, and string bass. ... This page meets Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ... An American college marching band on the field (Kansas State University) A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who generally perform outdoors, and who incorporate movement â€“ usually some type of marching and other movements  â€“ with their musical performance. ... A film score is a set of musical compositions written to accompany a film. ... For other uses, see Jazz (disambiguation). ...

The bass clarinet has an appealing, rich, earthy tone quite distinct from other instruments in its range, drawing on and enhancing the qualities of the lower range of the soprano and alto instrument.

Musical compositions using bass clarinet

Perhaps the earliest solo passages for bass clarinet -- indeed, among the earliest parts for the instrument -- occur in Mercadante's 1834 opera Emma d'Antiochia, in which a lengthy solo introduces Emma's scene in Act 2. (Mercadante actually specified a glicibarifono for this part.) Two years later, Giacomo Meyerbeer wrote an important solo for bass clarinet in Act 5 of his opera Les Huguenots. Giuseppe Saverio Raffaele Mercadante, Altamura (born near Bari, September 16, 1795 - died in Naples, December 17, 1870), was an Italian composer, particularly of operas. ... Giacomo Meyerbeer Giacomo Meyerbeer (September 5, 1791 – May 2, 1864) was a noted German-born opera composer, and the first great exponent of Grand Opera. ... Les Huguenots is a French opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer. ...

However, relatively few works from the familiar pre-twentieth century classical music repertoire make prominent use of the bass clarinet. One such composition is "The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" from Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker (1891-92), in which the instrument's low tones contrast with the tinkling higher pitches of the celesta.^[3] This article is about Western art music from 1000 AD to the present. ... “Tchaikovsky” redirects here. ... The Nutcracker (Russian: , Shchelkunchik) Op. ... French type, four-octave Celesta The Celesta (IPA ) is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. ...

There are a few major solo pieces for bass clarinet, including:

• Ann Callaway Concerto for Bass Clarinet and Chamber Orchestra (1985-87) (Laureate Press, distr. MMB Press)
• Peter Maxwell Davies: "The Seas of Kirk Swarf" for bass clarinet and strings (2007).^[4]
• Dietrich Erdmann: Concerto for bass clarinet and orchestra.
• Osvaldo Golijov: "Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind" for solo clarinetist (soprano clarinets, basset horn, and bass clarinet) and string quartet, later arranged for solo clarinetist and string orchestra.^[5]
• Todd Goodman: Concerto for bass clarinet and orchestra.^[6]
• Donald Martino: Triple Concerto for clarinet, bass clarinet, and contrabass clarinet.
• Thea Musgrave: Concerto for bass clarinet and orchestra.
• Andrew Rindfleisch: "The Light Fantastic" for bass clarinet and wind ensemble (2003).
• Jonathan Russell: Double bass clarinet concerto.
• Josef Schelb: Concerto for bass clarinet and orchestra.

Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, CBE (b. ... Osvaldo Golijov (born in La Plata, Argentina, December 5, 1960) is a composer of classical music . ... Basset horn The basset horn (sometimes written basset-horn) is a musical instrument, a member of the clarinet family. ... The resident string quartet of the Library of Congress in 1963 A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string instruments—usually two violins, a viola and cello—or a piece written to be performed by such a group. ... A string orchestra is an orchestra composed solely of stringed instruments. ... TODD GOODMAN was born in Bedford, Pennsylvania in 1977. ... Donald Martino (May 16, 1931–December 8, 2005) was a Pulitzer Prize winning American composer. ... The contrabass clarinet is the largest common member of the clarinet family. ... Thea Musgrave (b. ... A wind band, also called concert band, symphonic band, or wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of woodwind, brass, percussion instruments, and often string bass. ...

Bass clarinet soloists and ensembles

Edmund Welles, a quartet of bass clarinetists based in the San Francisco Bay Area

It was not until the 1950s that classical performers began to adopt the bass clarinet as their primary instrument. The pioneer was the Czech performer Josef Horák (d. 2005), who is credited as having performed the first ever solo bass clarinet recital on March 23, 1955. This marked a turning point when the instrument first became thought of as a soloist's instrument. The 1950s decade refers to the years 1950 to 1959 inclusive. ... It was not until the 1950s that classical performers began to adopt the bass clarinet as their primary instrument. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 82nd day of the year (83rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1955 Gregorian calendar). ...

Because the repertoire of solo music for the bass clarinet was quite small, most bass clarinet soloists specialize in new music, while also arranging works composed for other instruments from earlier eras (such as the Bach Cello Suites). Beginning with Horák, many players have commissioned works for the instrument, and consequently there now exists a repertoire of hundreds of solo works, many by prominent international composers such as Brian Ferneyhough and David Lang. In addition to Horák, other specialist performers include Dennis Smylie (United States), Harry Sparnaay (Netherlands, who has worked with important composers such as Luciano Berio, Iannis Xenakis, and Morton Feldman), Evan Ziporyn (United States), and Michael Lowenstern (United States); the latter two are also composers. “Bach” redirects here. ... The first page from the manuscript by Anna Magdalena Bach of Suite No. ... // Brian John Peter Ferneyhough (born 16 January 1943 in Coventry) is an English composer. ... David Lang (b. ... Bass clarinetist Dennis Smylie received his bachelors and masters degrees from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Joseph Allard. ... Harry Sparnaay (b. ... Luciano Berio (October 24, 1925 – May 27, 2003) was an Italian composer. ... Iannis Xenakis in 1975. ... Morton Feldman (January 12, 1926 – September 3, 1987) was an American composer, born in New York City. ... Evan Ziporyn Evan Ziporyn (b. ... Michael Lowenstern (b. ...

In October 2005, the First World Bass Clarinet Convention was held in Rotterdam, Netherlands, at which Horák was the guest of honour and played in one of the many concerts given by the leading bass clarinetists from around the world (including all the aforementioned performers, as well as many others). Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Nickname: Motto: Sterker door strijd (Stronger through Struggle) Location of Rotterdam Coordinates: , Country Province Government  - Mayor Ivo Opstelten  - Aldermen Jeannette Baljeu Hamit Karakus Orhan Kaya Lucas Bolsius Jantine Kriens Dominic Schrijer Roelf de Boer Leonard Geluk Area [1]  - Total 319 km² (123. ...

At least two professional bass clarinet quartets exist. Rocco Parisi's Bass Clarinet Quartet is an Italian group whose repertoire includes transcriptions of music by Rossini, Paganini, and Piazzolla. Edmund Welles is the name of a bass clarinet quartet based in San Francisco. Their repertoire includes original "heavy chamber music" and transcriptions of madrigals, boogie-woogie tunes, and heavy metal songs. Two of the members of Edmund Welles also perform as a bass clarinet duo, Sqwonk. Portrait Gioacchino Antonio Rossini (February 29, 1792 – November 13, 1868)[1] was an Italian musical composer who wrote more than 30 operas as well as sacred music and chamber music. ... Niccolò (or Nicolò) Paganini (October 27, 1782 – May 27, 1840) was an Italian violinist, violist, guitarist, and composer. ... Ástor Pantaleón Piazzolla (March 11, 1921 – July 4, 1992) was an Argentine tango composer and bandoneón player. ... Edmund Welles is a bass clarinet quartet from San Francisco. ... A madrigal is a setting for two or more voices of a secular text, often in Italian. ... Boogie woogie has two different meanings: a piano based music style, boogie woogie (music) a dance that imitates the rocknroll of the 50s, boogie woogie (dance) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Heavy metals, in chemistry, are chemical elements of a particular range of atomic weights. ...

Bass clarinet in jazz

While the bass clarinet was seldom heard in early jazz compositions, a bass clarinet solo by Omer Simeon can be heard in the 1926 recording "Someday Sweetheart" by Jelly Roll Morton and His Red Hot Peppers. Additionally, Benny Goodman recorded with the instrument a few times early in his career. For other uses, see Jazz (disambiguation). ... Omer Victor Simeon (21 July 1902 - 17 September 1959) was an American jazz clarinetist. ... Year 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Morton in the 1920s Ferdinand Jelly Roll Morton September 20, 1890 - July 10, 1941) was an American virtuoso pianist, bandleader and composer who some call the first true composer of jazz music. ... Benny Goodman, born Benjamin David Goodman[1] , (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American jazz musician and virtuoso clarinetist, known as King of Swing, Patriarch of the Clarinet, The Professor, and Swings Senior Statesman. // Goodman was born in Chicago, the ninth of twelve children of poor Jewish...

Harry Carney, Duke Ellington's baritone saxophonist for 47 years, played bass clarinet in some of Ellington's arrangements, first recording with it on "Saddest Tale" in 1934. He was featured soloist on many Ellington recordings, including 27 titles on bass clarinet.^[7] Harry Carney (1910 - 1974) was a jazz baritone saxophone player best known for his 45 year tenure in Duke Ellingtons band. ... This article is about the American Jazz composer and performer. ... The baritone saxophone, often called bari sax (to avoid confusion with the baritone horn, which is often referred to simply as baritone), is one of the larger and lower pitched members of the saxophone family. ...

The first jazz album on which the leader solely played bass clarinet was Great Ideas of Western Mann (1957) by Herbie Mann, better known as a flautist. However, avant-garde musician Eric Dolphy (1928-1964) was the first major jazz soloist on the instrument, and established much of the vocabulary and technique used by later performers. He used the entire range of the instrument in his solos. Bennie Maupin emerged in the late 1960s as a primary player of the instrument, playing on Miles Davis's seminal record Bitches Brew as well as several records with Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi group. His style resembles Dolphy's in its use of advanced harmonies. Herbert Jay Solomon (April 16, 1930 – July 1, 2003), better known as Herbie Mann, was an American jazz flutist and important practitioner of world music. ... Eric Allan Dolphy (June 20, 1928 – June 29, 1964) was a jazz musician who played alto saxophone, flute and bass clarinet. ... Bennie Maupin(born 29 August 1940) is a Detroit jazz multireedist. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from the beginning of 1958 to the end of 1974. ... Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926 – September 28, 1991) was an American jazz musician, widely considered to be one of the most influential of the 20th century. ... Bitches Brew is an album recorded by American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis in 1969. ... Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940 in Chicago, Illinois) is an Academy Award and Grammy award-winning American jazz pianist and composer. ... Eleventh album by jazz legend Herbie Hancock, released in 1970. ...

While the bass clarinet has been used often since Dolphy, it is typically used by a saxophonist or clarinetist as a second or third instrument; such musicians include David Murray, Marcus Miller, John Surman, Bob Mintzer, James Carter, Steve Buckley, Andy Biskin, Dai Pritchard, Don Byron, and Julian Siegel. Very few performers have used the instrument exclusively, but one such performer is the Baltimore-based American musician and bandleader Todd Marcus.[1] Klezmer clarinetist Giora Feidman is known for idiosyncratic use of the bass clarinet on some klezmer and jazz tunes. A saxophonist is a musician who plays the saxophone. ... A clarinetist (also spelled clarinettist) is a musician who plays the clarinet. ... David Murray (born February 19, 1955 in Oakland, California, United States) is a notable jazz musician. ... Marcus Miller (born June 14, 1959 in New York) is a jazz musician, composer and producer, perhaps best known as a bass guitarist with Miles Davis, Luther Vandross and David Sanborn. ... John Douglas Surman (born on 30 August 1944 in Tavistock, England), is a jazz saxophone, clarinet and synthesizer player. ... Bob Mintzer (Jan 27, 1953 - ), originally from New Rochelle, New York, is a jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger and big band leader based in New York City. ... James Carter (b. ... Steve Buckley is a British jazz musician. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Giora Feidman (b. ...

Other uses of bass clarinet

Like most woodwinds, bass clarinets are little used in popular music, but there are occasional examples, such as "When I'm Sixty-Four" by The Beatles, "Epitaph" by King Crimson, and Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band. For the music genre, see Pop music. ... When Im Sixty-Four is a love song by The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney[1][2] (but co-credited to John Lennon) and released in 1967 on their album Sgt. ... The White Album, see The Beatles (album). ... This article is about the musical group. ... Trout Mask Replica is the third studio album by Captain Beefheart (real name Don van Vliet) and His Magic Band. ... Captain Beefheart Don Van Vliet (born January 15, 1941 in Glendale, California), is a musician and painter, best known under the pseudonym Captain Beefheart. ...

The bass clarinet has proved to be an effective solo instrument in many television and motion picture film scores. A notable example is the recurring "Jubal Early theme" pervading the score for the "Objects in Space" episode of the Firefly TV series as well as in many songs used in the popular TV series, Monk . A film score is a set of musical compositions written to accompany a film. ... Objects in Space is the fourteenth and final episode of the science fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. ... Firefly is an American science fiction television series created by writer/director Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, under his Mutant Enemy Productions. ... Monk is an Emmy and Golden Globe winning U.S. television show about the private detective Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub). ...

History

Glicibarifono by Catterini, 1838.

There are several instruments that can arguably be considered the first bass clarinet. Probably the earliest is a dulcian-shaped instrument in the Museum Carolino Augusteum in Salzburg. It is incomplete, lacking a crook or mouthpiece, and appears to date from the first half of the eighteenth century. Its wide cylindrical bore and its fingering suggest it was a chalumeau or clarinet in the bass range.^[8] Four anonymous bass chalumeaux or clarinets apparently dating from the eighteenth century and having from one to six keys also appear to be among the earliest examples, and one in particular has been suggested to date from before 1750.^[9] However, the authenticity of at least one of these instruments has been questioned.^[10] Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 239 × 599 pixel Image in higher resolution (682 × 1709 pixel, file size: 631 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 239 × 599 pixel Image in higher resolution (682 × 1709 pixel, file size: 631 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the... The dulcian is a Renaissance bass woodwind instrument, with a double reed and a folded conical bore. ... This article is about the capital of the Austrian state of Salzburg. ... The chalumeau ( chalumeaux) is a wind instrument, the immediate ancestor of the clarinet. ...

In the Munich Stadtmuseum there is an instrument made circa 1770 by the Mayrhofers of Passau,^[10] who are often credited with the invention of the basset horn. It resembles early sickle-shaped basset horns, but has a larger bore and is longer, playing in low B♭. Whether this should be considered a low basset horn or a bass clarinet is a matter of opinion. In any case, no further work along this line is known to have been done. For other uses, see Munich (disambiguation). ... Passau (Latin: Batavis or Batavia, also Passavium; Italian: Passavia; Czech: Pasov) is a town in Niederbayern, Eastern Bavaria, Germany, known also as the Dreiflüssestadt (City of Three Rivers), because the Danube River is joined there by the Inn River from the South, and the Ilz River coming out of... The basset-horn is a musical instrument, a member of the clarinet family. ...

The earliest record of a bass clarinet is a description of an instrument, called the "basse-tube," invented by G. Lott in Paris in 1772.^[11] This instrument has not survived and very little is known of it. The next known bass clarinet was the Klarinetten-Bass by Heinrich Grenser, circa 1793. This instrument had a folded, bassoon-like shape and an extended range, and was presumably intended to serve as a bassoon replacement in military bands. Desfontenelles of Lisieux built a bass clarinet in 1807 whose shape was similar to that of the later saxophone. It had thirteen keys, at a time when most soprano clarinets had fewer. This article is about the capital of France. ... Year 1772 (MDCCLXXII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Sunday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... Heinrich Grenser (full name Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Grenser) was a musical instrument maker. ... Year 1793 (MDCCXCIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... The saxophone (colloquially referred to as sax) is a conical-bored musical instrument usually considered a member of the woodwind family. ...

Additional designs were developed by many other makers, including Dumas of Sommières (who called his instrument a "Basse guerrière") in 1807; Nicola Papalini, circa 1810 (an odd design, in the form of a serpentine series of curves, carved out of wood); George Catlin of Hartford, Connecticut ("clarion") circa 1810; Sautermeister of Lyons ("Basse-orgue") in 1812; Gottlieb Streitwolf in 1828; and Catterino Catterini ("glicibarifono") in the 1830s.^[8][9][12] These last four, and several others of the same period, had bassoon-like folded shapes, and most had extended ranges. A straight-bodied instrument without extended range was produced in 1832 by Isaac Dacosta and Auguste Buffet.^[8][9] Hartford redirects here. ...

Finally, Adolphe Sax, a Belgian manufacturer of musical instruments, designed a straight-bodied form of bass clarinet in 1838. Sax's expertise in acoustics led him include such features as accurately-placed, large tone holes and a second register hole. His instrument achieved great success and became the basis for all bass clarinet design since. Life-size statue of Adolphe Sax outside his birthplace in Dinant, Belgium. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

It should be noted that the instrument on which Anton Stadler first played Mozart's clarinet concerto was originally called a Bass-Klarinette, but was not a bass clarinet in the modern sense; since the late eighteenth century this instrument has been called a basset clarinet. Anton Stadler (1753 - 1812) was a clarinet and basset horn player for whom Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote both his Quintet_for_Clarinet_and_Strings and Clarinet Concerto. ... “Mozart” redirects here. ... Mozarts Clarinet concerto in A major, K. 622 was written in 1791 for the clarinetist Anton Stadler. ... The basset-horn is a musical instrument, a member of the clarinet family. ...

Notation

Orchestral music for bass clarinet is written using one of two systems.

• a) Conventional treble clef in B♭. This sounds an octave and a tone lower than written and therefore uses the same fingerings as the soprano clarinet, and is by far the more common of the two.
• b) Bass clef in B♭. This sounds a tone lower than written. The player must, of course, be able to read bass clef. For music written in bass clef, higher passages may be written in treble clef to avoid the use of excessive ledger lines, but this should not be confused with system a), in which notes sound an octave lower than in system b). Unlike music for the bassoon the tenor clef is not used for higher passages.

System a) is used in orchestral music by most composers west of Germany and in all show, concert band and clarinet choir music. System b) is used chiefly by Wagner, Mahler, Shostakovich, Russian and eastern European composers, although there are exceptions. Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner (22 May 1813 – 13 February 1883) was a German composer, conductor, music theorist, and essayist, primarily known for his operas (or music dramas as they were later called). ... Mahler redirects here. ... Dmitri Shostakovich in 1942 Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich   (Russian: , Dmitrij Dmitrievič Å ostakovič) (September 25 [O.S. September 12] 1906 – August 9, 1975) was a Russian composer of the Soviet period. ... Statistical regions of Europe as delineated by the United Nations (UN definition of Eastern Europe marked red):  Northern Europe  Western Europe  Eastern Europe  Southern Europe Pre-1989 division between the West (grey) and Eastern Bloc (orange) superimposed on current borders: Russia (dark orange), other countries formerly part of the USSR...

Music is occasionally encountered written for the bass clarinet in A, e.g. in Wagner operas and Mahler or Rachmaninov symphonies; this music also tends to be written in bass clef. Very few modern players own a bass clarinet in A; most play these parts on the B♭ instrument, transposing them down a semitone. Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff, also Sergey Rachmaninov or Serge Rakhmaninov (Серге́й Васи́льевич Рахма́нинов), (April 1, 1873 – March 28, 1943) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. ...

References

Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 274th day of the year (275th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... is the 171st day of the year (172nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 173rd day of the year (174th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 80th day of the year (81st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 80th day of the year (81st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 107th day of the year (108th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 109th day of the year (110th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Curt Sachs (June 29, 1881 - February 5, 1959) was a German musicologist. ...

External links

• World Bass Clarinet Foundation
• Photo of bass clarinet choir at the World Bass Clarinet Convention in 2005
• The clarinet family
• Edmund Welles
• Rocco Parisi's Bass Clarinet Quartet
• Sqwonk
• Harry Sparnaay An interview by Marco Mazzini in Clariperu (Spanish)