The E-flat (E) clarinet is a member of the clarinet family, smaller than the more common B clarinet and pitched a
perfect fourth
A fourth is a musical interval encompassing four staff positions in the music notation of Western culture, and a perfect fourth () is the fourth spanning five semitones (half steps, or half tones). For example, the ascending interval from C to ...
higher. It is typically considered the sopranino or piccolo member of the clarinet family and is a
transposing instrument
A transposing instrument is a musical instrument for which music notation is not written at concert pitch (concert pitch is the pitch on a non-transposing instrument such as the piano). For example, playing a written middle C on a transposing ...
in E with a sounding pitch a minor third higher than written. In
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
it is sometimes referred to as a ''terzino'' and is generally listed in B-based scores (including many European band scores) as ''terzino in Mi♭''. The E-flat clarinet has a total length of about 49 cm.
The E clarinet is used in
orchestra
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families.
There are typically four main sections of instruments:
* bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...
marching band
A marching band is a group of musical instrument, instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass instrument, brass, woodwind instrument, woodwind, and percus ...
s, and plays a central role in clarinet choirs, carrying melodies that would be uncomfortably high for the B clarinet. Solo repertoire is limited, but composers from Berlioz to Mahler have used it extensively as a solo instrument in orchestral contexts.
Tonal range
Many orchestration and instrumentation books give a smaller tonal range (E3 to G6) for the E-flat clarinet compared to normal clarinets in A or B (E3-C7).
Use in concert and military bands
Towards the end of the eighteenth century the clarinet in high F took this role until the E clarinet took over beginning sometime in the second decade of the 1800s.
Although the E is somewhat of a rarity in school bands, it is a staple instrument in college and other upper level ensembles. Unlike the B soprano clarinet which has numerous musicians performing on each part, the E clarinet part is usually played by only one musician in a typical concert band. This is partially because the E clarinet has a bright, shrill sound similar to the sound of the piccolo. It commonly plays the role of a garnish instrument along with the piccolo, and duo segments between the two instruments are quite common. The E clarinet is often heard playing along with the flutes and/or oboes.
Important soloistic parts in standard band repertoire for the E clarinet include the second movement of
Gustav Holst
Gustav Theodore Holst (born Gustavus Theodore von Holst; 21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934) was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite ''The Planets'', he composed many other works across a range ...
's ''
First Suite in E-flat for Military Band
The First Suite in E for Military Band, Op. 28, No. 1, by the British composer Gustav Holst is considered one of the cornerstone masterworks in the concert band repertoire. Officially premiered in 1920 at the Royal Military School of Music, the ...
'' (for two E clarinets) and his piece "Hammersmith" (also for two E clarinets),
Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ' ...
Gordon Jacob
Gordon Percival Septimus Jacob CBE (5 July 18958 June 1984) was an English composer and teacher. He was a professor at the Royal College of Music in London from 1924 until his retirement in 1966, and published four books and many articles about ...
's ''William Byrd Suite''. The E clarinet is also a featured player in modern wind band repertoire, such as Adam Gorb's ''Yiddish Dances'', where it takes on a solo role for much of the five-movement piece.
Use as children's clarinet
While most E clarinets are built and marketed for professionals or advanced students, inexpensive plastic E clarinets have been produced for beginning children's use. These have a simplified fingering system, lacking some of the trill keys and alternative fingerings.
D clarinet
The slightly larger D clarinet is rare, although it was common in the early and mid-eighteenth century (see the Molter concertos below). The D clarinet has a total length of about 52 cm. From the end of that century to the present it has become less common than the clarinets in E, B, A, or even C. Handel’s Overture in D major for two clarinets and horn was probably written for two D clarinets. D clarinets were once commonly employed by some composers (e.g., Rimsky-Korsakov's ''Mlada'') to be used by one player equipped with instruments in D and E — analogous to a player using instruments in B and A. In modern performance (especially in North America and western Europe outside German-speaking countries), it is normal to transpose D clarinet parts for E clarinet.
The rationale underlying a composer's choice between E and D clarinet is often difficult to discern and can seem perverse, especially when the option not chosen would be easier for the player to execute. For instance, the original version of Arnold Schoenberg's '' Chamber Symphony No. 1'' is for E clarinet while the orchestral version is for D. Certain passages of Maurice Ravel's '' Daphnis et Chloe'' are set in
concert
A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variet ...
D but are scored for E clarinet, with the effect that some fingerings in those passages are extremely difficult on the E-flat clarinet, which is forced to play in its B major, but would be much easier on a D clarinet, which would play in its C major. Another famous example is the D clarinet part of Richard Strauss's '' Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche''.
Solo and chamber literature for the E (or D) clarinet
Solo works for these instruments are relatively rare however steadily increasing in number.
*
Johann Melchior Molter
Johann Melchior Molter (10 February 1696 – 12 January 1765) was a German composer and violinist of the late Baroque period.
He was born at Tiefenort, near Eisenach, and was educated at the Gymnasium in Eisenach. By autumn 1717 he had l ...
: Six Clarinet Concerti (D; among the earliest extant clarinet concerti).
* Concerti by Jerome Neff and William Neil.
* Ernesto Cavallini: ''
Carnival of Venice
The Carnival of Venice ( it, Carnevale di Venezia) is an annual festival held in Venice, Italy. The carnival ends on Shrove Tuesday (''Martedì Grasso'' or Mardi Gras), which is the day before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday. The festival is w ...
'' variations, ''Fantasia on a Theme from Ultimo Giorno Di Pompeii'', and (with Giacomo Panizza) ''I figli di Eduardo 4th'' (all for E clarinet and piano).
* Paul Mefano: ''Involutive'' for solo E clarinet
*
Henri Rabaud
Henri Benjamin Rabaud (10 November 187311 September 1949) was a French conductor, composer and pedagogue, who held important posts in the French musical establishment and upheld mainly conservative trends in French music in the first half of th ...
: "Solo de Concours" for E clarinet.
* Jeroen Speak: ''Epeisodos'' for solo E clarinet.
* Amilcare Ponchielli: Quartetto for B and E clarinets, flute, and
oboe
The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range.
...
, with
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...
accompaniment.
* Giacinto Scelsi: "Tre Pezzi for E Clarinet"
*
William Bolcom
William Elden Bolcom (born May 26, 1938) is an American composer and pianist. He has received the Pulitzer Prize, the National Medal of Arts, a Grammy Award, the Detroit Music Award and was named 2007 Composer of the Year by Musical America. He ...
: "Suite of Four Dances for E Clarinet"
* Manuel Lillo Torregrosa: "Teren Rof", "Vivencias", "Obviam ire siglo", "Angular": Concerts 1, 2, 3, 4 for E Clarinet and Band
* Arnold Schoenberg: Suite, op. 29 (E, B, and bass clarinet,
violin
The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...
,
viola
; german: Bratsche
, alt=Viola shown from the front and the side
, image=Bratsche.jpg
, caption=
, background=string
, hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71
, hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow
, range=
, related=
*Violin family ...
,
violoncello
The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D ...
, piano).
*
Anton Webern
Anton Friedrich Wilhelm von Webern (3 December 188315 September 1945), better known as Anton Webern (), was an Austrian composer and conductor whose music was among the most radical of its milieu in its sheer concision, even aphorism, and stead ...
: Drei Lieder fur Singstimme, Es-Klarinette und Gitarre Op.18.
Orchestral and operatic music using the E (or D) clarinet
The Rite of Spring
, image = Roerich Rite of Spring.jpg
, image_size = 350px
, caption = Concept design for act 1, part of Nicholas Roerich's designs for Diaghilev's 1913 production of '
, composer = Igor Stravinsky
, based_on ...
D Major
D major (or the key of D) is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative minor is B minor and its parallel minor is D minor.
The D major scale is:
:
Ch ...
(E)
Other orchestral compositions and operas making extensive use of E or D clarinet include:
* Béla Bartók -
Bluebeard's Castle
''Duke Bluebeard's Castle'' ( hu, A kékszakállú herceg vára, link=no, or ''The Blue-Bearded Duke's Castle'') is a one-act expressionist opera by Hungarian composer Béla Bartók. The libretto was written by Béla Balázs, a poet and friend of t ...
(1&2 double E),
Miraculous Mandarin
''The Miraculous Mandarin'' ( hu, A csodálatos mandarin, translit= ˈt͡ʃodaːlɒtoʃ}, ; german: Der wunderbare Mandarin) Op. 19, Sz. 73 (BB 82), is a one act pantomime ballet composed by Béla Bartók between 1918 and 1924, and based on the ...
West Side Story
''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents.
Inspired by William Shakespeare's play '' Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid ...
Slava! A Political Overture
''Slava! A Political Overture for Orchestra'' is a short orchestral composition by Leonard Bernstein. It was written for the inaugural concerts of Mstislav Rostropovich's first season with the National Symphony Orchestra in 1977. It premier ...
*
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later a conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as "the Dean of American Com ...
Leoš Janáček
Leoš Janáček (, baptised Leo Eugen Janáček; 3 July 1854 – 12 August 1928) was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist, and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and other Slavic musics, including Eastern European f ...
Carl Orff
Carl Orff (; 10 July 1895 – 29 March 1982) was a German composer and music educator, best known for his cantata '' Carmina Burana'' (1937). The concepts of his Schulwerk were influential for children's music education.
Life
Early life
Carl ...
-
Carmina Burana (Orff)
' is a cantata composed in 1935 and 1936 by Carl Orff, based on 24 poems from the medieval collection '' Carmina Burana''. Its full Latin title is ' ("Songs of Beuern: Secular songs for singers and choruses to be sung together with instruments a ...
Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, ...
Daphnis et Chloé
''Daphnis et Chloé'' is a 1912 ''symphonie chorégraphique'', or choreographic symphony, for orchestra and wordless chorus by Maurice Ravel. It is in three main sections, or ''parties'', and a dozen scenes, most of them dances, and lasts just u ...
Ein Heldenleben
''Ein Heldenleben'' (''A Hero's Life''), Op. 40, is a tone poem by Richard Strauss. The work was completed in 1898. It was his eighth work in the genre, and exceeded any of its predecessors in its orchestral demands. Generally agreed to be au ...
,
Eine Alpensinfonie
''An Alpine Symphony'' (''Eine Alpensinfonie''), Op. 64, is a tone poem for large orchestra written by German composer Richard Strauss in 1915. It is one of Strauss's largest non-operatic works; the score calls for about 125 players and a t ...
,
Also sprach Zarathustra
', Op. 30 (, ''Thus Spoke Zarathustra'' or ''Thus Spake Zarathustra'') is a tone poem by Richard Strauss, composed in 1896 and inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophical 1883–1885 novel ''Thus Spoke Zarathustra''.Sinfonia Domestica (D),
Josephslegende
''Josephslegende'' (''The Legend of Joseph''), Op. 63, is a ballet in one act for the Ballets Russes based on the story of Potiphar's Wife, with a libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Harry Graf Kessler and music by Richard Strauss. Composed ...
The Firebird
''The Firebird'' (french: L'Oiseau de feu, link=no; russian: Жар-птица, Zhar-ptitsa, link=no) is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1910 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev' ...
(D),
The Rite of Spring
, image = Roerich Rite of Spring.jpg
, image_size = 350px
, caption = Concept design for act 1, part of Nicholas Roerich's designs for Diaghilev's 1913 production of '
, composer = Igor Stravinsky
, based_on ...
Recent usage
After 1950, works using E clarinet are too numerous to note individually. However, among those where the instrument is featured beyond what would be considered normal in recent music are
John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of t ...
's '' Chamber Symphony'', where two players play E and bass clarinet and "double" on soprano and
Adriana Hölszky
Adriana Hölszky (born 30 June 1953) is a Romanian-born German music educator, composer and pianist who has been living in Germany since 1976.
Biography
Hölszky was born in Bucharest. In the years 1959-1969 she studied piano with Olga Rosca-Be ...
's ''A due'' for two E clarinets. The extended techniques of the B clarinet, including
multiphonics
A multiphonic is an extended technique on a monophonic musical instrument (one that generally produces only one note at a time) in which several notes are produced at once. This includes wind, reed, and brass instruments, as well as the human voi ...
, flutter tonguing, and extreme registers, have all been imported to the E.
References
Bibliography
* Hadcock, Peter, "Orchestral Studies for the E Clarinet", Roncorp Publications. A useful resource for the E player by long-time E Boston Symphony player and New England Conservatory faculty member Hadcock, containing many of the standard excerpts, guides to performance, and an extensive fingering chart.
*Gangl, Manuel (2021). "The E-flat clarinet. history, intonation, sound, equipment, geometry, tonal range, repertoire list, tips and more. Part 1", MG Verlag. Manuel Gangl is E-flat clarinetist in the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.
*Gangl, Manuel (2022). "The D clarinet & The Molter clarinet concerto No. 1", MG Verlag.
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