Clarinet

The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The name derives from adding the suffix -et meaning little to the Italian word clarino meaning trumpet, as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet.

Usage and repertoire of the clarinet

Classical music

In classical music, clarinets are part of standard orchestral instrumentation, which frequently includes two clarinetists playing individual parts — each player usually equipped with a pair of standard clarinets in B flat and A. A bass clarinet is also used sometimes, particularly in 20th century music.

Related Topics:
Classical music - Orchestra - 20th century music

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The clarinet is widely used as a solo instrument. The relatively late invention of the clarinet has bequeathed a considerable repertoire from the Classical, Romantic and Modern periods but few works from the Baroque era. A number of clarinet concertos have been written to showcase the instrument, with those by Mozart (the first major composer to write for the clarinet), Copland and Weber being particularly well known.

Related Topics:
Classical - Romantic - Modern - Baroque - Clarinet concerto - Mozart - Copland - Weber

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Many works of chamber music have also been written for the clarinet. Particularly common combinations are:

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• clarinet and piano (including clarinet sonatas)
• clarinet, piano and another instrument (e.g. string instrument or voice)
• clarinet quintet, generally made up of a clarinet plus a string quartet,
• wind quintet
• clarinet quartet, consisting of four soprano clarinets, but sometimes using bass clarinet or alto clarinet in place of one of the sopranos.

Concert bands

In wind bands, clarinets are a particularly central part of the instrumentation, occupying the same space in bands that the strings do in orchestras. Bands usually include several B♭ clarinets, divided into sections each consisting of several instruments playing the same part. Alto, bass, and contrabass clarinets are sometimes used as well.

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Jazz

Clarinets are also commonly found in jazz, especially in its earlier forms such as the Big Band music of the 1930s and 1940s.

Related Topics:
Jazz - 1930s - 1940s

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The clarinet was a central instrument in early jazz starting in the 1910s and remaining popular through the big band era into the 1940s. Larry Shields, Ted Lewis, Jimmie Noone and Sidney Bechet were influential in early jazz. The B flat soprano was the most common, but a few early jazz musicians such as Louis Nelson Deslile and Alcide Nunez prefered the C soprano, and many New Orleans jazz brass bands have used E flat sopranino.

Related Topics:
1910s - Big band - 1940s - Larry Shields - Ted Lewis - Jimmie Noone - Sidney Bechet - Louis Nelson Deslile - Alcide Nunez

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Swing clarinetists such as Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, and Woody Herman led perhaps the most successful popular music groups of their era.

Related Topics:
Benny Goodman - Artie Shaw - Woody Herman - Popular music

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With the decline of big bands' popularity in the late 1940s, the clarinet faded from its prominent position in jazz, though a few players (Buddy DeFranco, Jimmy Giuffre, Perry Robinson and others) used clarinet in bebop and free jazz. However, the instrument has seen something of a resurgence since the 1980s, with Eddie Daniels, Don Byron and others playing the clarinet in more contemporary contexts. The instrument remains common in such styles as Dixieland.

Related Topics:
Buddy DeFranco - Jimmy Giuffre - Perry Robinson - Bebop - Free jazz - Eddie Daniels - Don Byron - Dixieland

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Klezmer

Clarinets are also feature prominently in much Klezmer music, which requires a very distinctive style of playing from the clarinetist.

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Groups of clarinets

Groups of clarinets playing together have become increasingly popular among clarinet enthusiasts in recent years. Common forms are:

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• clarinet choir, which features a large number of clarinets playing together, usually involving a range of different members of the clarinet family (see Family of Clarinets). The homogeneity of tone across the different members of the clarinet family produces an effect with some similarities to a human choir.
• clarinet quartet, for which three B♭ sopranos and one B♭ bass is a particularly common combination

Clarinet choirs and quartets often play arrangements of both classical and popular music, in addition to a body of literature specially written for a combination of clarinets by composers such as Arnold Cooke, Alfred Uhl, Lucien Caillet and Vaclav Nehlybel.

Related Topics:
Arnold Cooke - Alfred Uhl - Lucien Caillet - Vaclav Nehlybel

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