Clarinette d'amour
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The clarinette d'amour was a musical instrument, a member of the clarinet family. In comparison with the B♭ and A soprano clarinets, the clarinette d'amour had a similar shape and construction, but was larger, usually pitched in G. (Examples in A♭ and F are also known.) However, it had proportionally smaller tone holes and bore, and a pear-shaped bell similar to that of the cor anglais; these features gave the instrument its distinctive timbre.
It first appeared around the middle of the 18th century and was popular in central Europe, but was regarded as obsolete by the mid 19th century. It has been conjectured that the basset horn, which shares the features of low pitch and small bore, was developed from the clarinette d'amour.
[edit] References
- F. Geoffrey Rendall. The Clarinet. 2nd ed. London: Ernest Benn, 1957.
