 E♭ clarinet with Boehm System keywork. | |
| Woodwind instrument | |
|---|---|
| Classification | |
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 422.211.2 (Single reed instruments – with fingerholes) |
| Playing range | |
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Written range: .png) | |
| Related instruments | |
The E-flat (E♭) clarinet is a member of the clarinet family, smaller than the more common B♭ clarinet and pitched a perfect fourth higher. It is typically considered the sopranino or piccolo member of the clarinet family and is a transposing instrument in E♭ with a sounding pitch a minor third higher than written. The E-flat clarinet has a total length of about 49 centimetres (19 in).[1]
In Italian, the term quartino refers specifically to the E♭ clarinet, particularly in band scores. The term terzino is also used, referring more generally to any small clarinet; in Italian scores, the E♭ clarinet is sometimes indicated as terzino in Mi♭, e.g. the Fantasia Eroica op. 33 (1913) by Francesco Paolo Neglia. Until the late nineteenth century, the term Elafà also indicated a clarinet in E♭.[2]
The E♭ clarinet is used in orchestras, concert bands, and marching bands, 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.
- ^ Gangl, Manuel (2021). The E-flat clarinet. Austria: Manuel Gangl Verlag. p. 72. ISBN 978-3-9519865-3-1.
- ^ Amore, Adriano (2018). I Clarinetti piccoli in Italia [Small clarinets in Italy] (in Italian). Turin: GEDI Gruppo Editoriale / Adriano Amore. p. 13–15. OCLC 1124643607.