The alto clarinet fell somewhat out of favor outside of marching bands, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In the wind band and clarinet choir the alto clarinet can add tonal strength to the ensemble, not only because it can play lower notes, but because some of the most beautiful notes (written C to F) in the upper register of the alto clarinet have the same pitch as the weaker-toned middle-register notes (written F to B ♭) of the B ♭ soprano clarinet. He wrote an elaborate part for alto clarinet in his Symphony No. Joseph Holbrooke seems to have liked the instrument. Stravinsky calls for the usual alto clarinet in E ♭ in the Elegy for J.F.K. There is a notable alto clarinet solo in Percy Grainger's wind-band piece Lincolnshire Posy.Īn important orchestral example is Igor Stravinsky's Threni, which calls for an instrument in F instead of the usual E ♭, and with extension keys to fingered low C (therefore indistinguishable from a basset horn). Many times the alto clarinet serves an important role in the harmonic scoring of the clarinet section within the broader scope of the concert band. Band directors looking to add color to a large clarinet section will often move clarinet players to this instrument. The alto clarinet band part remains in 20th and 21st century wind band literature. In his Treatise on Orchestration and Instrumentation, Hector Berlioz said of the alto clarinet, "It is a very beautiful instrument which ought to take its place in all well-established orchestras." Notability Parran, Petr Kroutil, Joe Lovano and Gianluigi Trovesi among them, have played the alto clarinet. A few jazz musicians, Hamiet Bluiett, Vinny Golia, J. It is used mostly in concert bands and plays an important role in clarinet choirs. Generally, however, the alto clarinet has not been commonly used in orchestral scoring. 105) for Müller's instrument and orchestra. Soon after its invention, Georg Abraham Schneider composed two concertos (Op. Īlbert Rice defines clarinets in G with flared bells, which were produced as early as 1740, as alto clarinets, but this use of the term is uncommon. Later, in Europe, Adolphe Sax made notable improvements to the alto clarinet.
This instrument bears a strong resemblance to the "patent clarions" (bass clarinets) made from about 1810 by George Catlin of Hartford, Connecticut and his apprentices. The alto clarinet may have been invented independently in America the Metropolitan Museum of Art has a bassoon-shaped alto clarinet in E ♭, cataloged as an "alto clarion", attributed to an anonymous American maker circa 1820.
Müller was performing on an alto clarinet in F by 1809, one with sixteen keys at a time when soprano clarinets generally had no more than 10–12 keys Müller's revolutionary thirteen-key soprano clarinet was developed soon after. The invention of the alto clarinet has been attributed to Iwan Müller and to Heinrich Grenser, and to both working together. The alto clarinet, however, often has an extra key allowing it to play a low (written) E ♭, and a half-hole key controlled by the left-hand index finger with a vent that may be uncovered to assist in playing the altissimo register. Most modern alto clarinets, like other instruments in the clarinet family, have the Boehm system or Oehler system of keys and fingering, which means that this clarinet has virtually identical fingering to the others. Despite the broad range, the instrument is always scored in the treble clef. The range of the alto clarinet is from the concert G 2 or G ♭ 2 (in the second octave below middle C, bottom line of the bass clef) to E ♭ 6 (in the second octave above middle C), with the exact upper end of the range depending on the skill of the player. In appearance it strongly resembles the basset horn, but usually differs in three respects: it is pitched a whole step lower, it lacks an extended lower range, and it has a wider bore than many basset horns. It bears a greater resemblance to the bass clarinet in that it typically has a straight body (made of grenadilla or other wood, hard rubber, or plastic), but a curved neck and bell made of metal. In size it lies between the soprano clarinet and the bass clarinet. It is a transposing instrument pitched in the key of E ♭, though instruments in F have been made. The alto clarinet is a woodwind instrument of the clarinet family.
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