Contrabass clarinet
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The contrabass clarinet is one of the largest members of the clarinet family. Modern contrabass clarinets are pitched in B♭, sounding two octaves lower than the common B♭ soprano clarinet and one octave lower than the B♭ bass clarinet. Some contrabass clarinet models have a range extending down to low (written) E♭, while others can play down to low D or further to low C. Some early instruments were pitched in C; Arnold Schoenberg's Fünf Orchesterstücke specifies a contrabass clarinet in A, but there is no evidence of such an instrument ever having existed.
Unlike other clarinets, the contrabass clarinet is usually built with only a single trill key used by the right hand instead of four of them. The single key functions the same as the lowest trill key in other clarinets.
The contrabass clarinet is also sometimes known by the name pedal clarinet—this term referring not to any aspect of the instrument's mechanism but to an analogy between its very low tones and the pedal tones of the trombone, or the pedal department of the organ.
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[edit] History
The earliest known contrabass clarinet was the contre-basse guerrière invented in 1808 by a goldsmith named Dumas of Sommières; little else is known of this instrument. About thirty years later W. F. Wieprecht developed his batyphone, pitched in C; soon after, Adolphe Sax created his clarinette-bourdon in B♭. In 1889 Fontaine-Besson began producing a new pedal clarinet (see photograph). None of these instruments saw widespread use, but they provided a basis for contrabass clarinets made beginning in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by several manufacturers, notably those designed by Charles Houvenaghel for Leblanc, which were more successful.
[edit] Producers
There are not many present-day producers of the contrabass clarinet. Selmer Paris makes a rosewood version looking much like a longer version of the bass clarinet, and Leblanc USA has a plastic instrument in a similar long-body design. Leblanc Paris builds two versions made of metal, one known as a paperclip contrabass due to its folded shape, and another similar in shape to the Selmer and Leblanc USA models. In 2006 Benedikt Eppelsheim introduced a metal contrabass clarinet with a folded shape different from the paperclip format, described as a full Boehm system instrument with a full set of four right hand trill keys.
[edit] Performers
Probably the best known musician who has made significant use of the contrabass clarinet as a solo instrument is Anthony Braxton. Other performers (most of whom use the instrument in the genres of jazz and free improvised music) include Douglas Ewart, Vinny Golia, Mwata Bowden, Wolfgang Fuchs, Hans Koch, and Edward "Kidd" Jordan.
[edit] Other large clarinets
Though relatively rare itself, the contrabass remains the lowest-pitched member of the clarinet family that has ever been in regular production or significant use. Larger clarinets have occasionally been constructed [1], including the extremely rare EEE♭ octocontra-alto and a single instance of a BBB♭octocontrabass.
The E♭ contra-alto clarinet is sometimes referred to as the E♭ contrabass clarinet.
[edit] Musical compositions using contrabass clarinet
Solo literature for the instrument is relatively scarce. Examples include:
- Scherzo Fantastique by Alfred Reed
- Ombra by Franco Donatoni
- Anubis, Nout by Gérard Grisey
- interference by Richard Barrett - also employing the player's voice and a pedal bass drum.
Some compositions making notable use of the contrabass clarinet include:
- Triple Concerto for clarinet, bass clarinet, and contrabass clarinet by Donald Martino
- Éclairs Sur l'Au-Delà by Olivier Messiaen
- Symphony No. 1 ("Of Rage and Remembrance") by John Corigliano
- Fantasy Variations on a Theme by Niccolò Paganini by James Barnes
- The Flood by Igor Stravinsky
- Symphony No. 7 by Hans Werner Henze
[edit] References
- F. Geoffrey Rendall. The Clarinet. Second Revised Edition. London: Ernest Benn Limited, 1957.
[edit] External links
- contrabass.com
- hmd.lu - photos of a Leblanc paper clip model instrument and a sound clip thereof.
