View source for A-flat clarinet

{{Short description|Smallest piccolo clarinet still in current use}}
{{good article}}
{{Infobox Instrument
|name=A♭ clarinet
|names=
|image=Ripamonti Clarinetto Piccolo Lab.jpg
|image_size=225px
|image_capt=<!-- not required in infobox: A♭ clarinet -->
|background=woodwind
|classification=
[[Wind instrument|Wind]] →
[[Woodwind instrument|Woodwind]] →
[[Single-reed instrument|Single-reed]]
|hornbostel_sachs=422.211.2–71
|hornbostel_sachs_desc=[[Single-reed instrument|Single-reeded]] [[aerophone]] with keys
|range= <score> { \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f  e2 \glissando g'''2  c'2 \glissando  \ottava #1 es''''2 } </score> <br>Written E{{sub|3}}–G{{sub|6}}, sounding C{{sub|4}}–E♭{{sub|7}}, the A♭ clarinet sounds a [[minor sixth]] higher than written.
|related={{hlist
  | [[Soprano clarinet|B♭ clarinet]]
  | [[E-flat clarinet|E♭ clarinet]]
  | [[Hot fountain pen]]
  | [[Soprillo]]
  | [[Tárogató]]
 }}
|builders={{hlist
  | [[Dietz Klarinettenbau]] (in G only)
  | Foag Klarinetten
  | [[Herbert Wurlitzer]]
  | Mario Corso
  | [[Orsi Instrument Company|Orsi]]
  | Ripamonti
  | [[Schwenk & Seggelke]]<ref name="manufacturers">{{multiref2
    | {{Cite web |title=High Clarinets - High G or Ab |work=Foag Klarinetten |url= https://musik-foag.de/en/hohe-klarinetten/#foogallery-2341/f:G-hoch%20oder%20As |access-date=5 February 2024 }}
    | {{Cite web |title=High G Clarinet, KL-DS-HG |publication-place=Neustadt an der Aisch |publisher=[[Herbert Wurlitzer]] |url= https://shop.wurlitzerklarinetten.de/en/clarinets-german-system/high-g-clarinet/kl-ds-hg/ |access-date=14 June 2024 }} The A♭ clarinet is listed as available by request: {{Cite web |title=Clarinets |publication-place=Neustadt an der Aisch |publisher=[[Herbert Wurlitzer]] |url= https://wurlitzerklarinetten.de/clarinets/ |access-date=14 June 2024 }}
    | {{cite web |title=317 Ripa – Clarinetto Piccolo La♭. 17/6 Boehm, Ripa serie |date=19 May 2022 |language=it |publisher=L. A. Ripamonti |publication-place=Milan |url=https://www.ripamusic.com/prodotto/317ripa-clarinetto-piccolo-lab/ |access-date=21 April 2023 |archive-date=22 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230422041149/https://www.ripamusic.com/prodotto/317ripa-clarinetto-piccolo-lab/ |url-status=live }}
    | {{cite web |title=Clarinetto C004L |publisher=Mario Corso |publication-place=Milan |url= http://mariocorso.com/ |access-date=7 August 2024}}
    | {{cite web |title=Hoch G-Klarinetten |publisher=[[Dietz Klarinettenbau]] |publication-place=[[Neustadt an der Aisch]] |lang=de |url= https://dietz-klarinetten.de/produkte/klarinetten/ |access-date=4 June 2025 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20250604110358/https://dietz-klarinetten.de/produkte/klarinetten/ |archive-date=4 June 2025 |url-status=live}}
    | {{cite web |title=Prodotti |language=it |trans-title=Products |publication-place=Milan |publisher=[[Orsi Instrument Company|Prof. Romeo Orsi S.R.L.]] |url=https://orsiwind.wixsite.com/wind-instruments/prodotti |access-date=29 August 2023 |archive-date=29 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230829015758/https://orsiwind.wixsite.com/wind-instruments/prodotti |url-status=live }}
    | {{cite web |title=Clarinet models 1000/1000+/3000 |publication-place=Bamberg |publisher=[[Schwenk & Seggelke]] |url=https://www.schwenk-und-seggelke.de/_en/klarinetten_modell3000.php |access-date=29 August 2023 |archive-date=26 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230426071510/https://www.schwenk-und-seggelke.de/_en/klarinetten_modell3000.php |url-status=live }}
  }}</ref>
}}
|musicians= [[Clarinetist]]s
|articles= [[Clarinet family]]
|sound sample= {{listen|embed=yes |filename=As-Klarinettte Bartok Scherzo.ogg |title=Béla Bartók, ''Scherzo'' (excerpt) |description=A♭ clarinet played by [[Richard Haynes (musician)|Richard Haynes]]}}
}}

<!--keywords for searching: Ab clarinet; A-flat clarinet; Aflat clarinet-->
The '''A-flat (A♭) clarinet''' is the highest-pitched instrument of the [[clarinet family]] still manufactured. It is just over half the length of the common [[soprano clarinet|B♭ clarinet]] and pitched a [[minor seventh]] higher, a [[perfect fourth]] higher than the [[E-flat clarinet|E♭ clarinet]]. As a [[transposing instrument]] it sounds a [[minor sixth]] higher than written, thus the lowest written note [[scientific pitch notation|E{{sub|3}}]] sounds as [[Concert pitch|concert]] C{{sub|4}} ([[middle C]]).
Around the beginning of the 19th century, several small clarinets in different pitches appeared. The A♭ clarinet was adopted in European [[wind band]]s, particularly in Italy where it has appeared in [[Giuseppe Verdi|Verdi's]] opera [[banda (opera)|banda]] parts and survived to the present day in [[military band]]s. It is sometimes called for in [[contemporary classical music]], in works by composers [[Béla Bartók]] and [[John Tavener]], and in large [[clarinet choir]] works. It is manufactured by Italian makers Ripamonti, Mario Corso, and [[Orsi Instrument Company|Orsi]], and in Germany by [[Dietz Klarinettenbau]] (in G), Foag Klarinetten, [[Herbert Wurlitzer]], and [[Schwenk & Seggelke]].

== History of small clarinets ==

{{main|Clarinet#History|E-flat clarinet|Clarinet family}}

The clarinets pitched higher than the C clarinet are frequently taken together as a group, variously known as the "sopranino" or "piccolo" ([[Nicholas Shackleton|Shackleton]], [[Colin Lawson|Lawson]]),{{sfn|Shackleton|2001|loc=1. The clarinet family}}{{sfn|Lawson|1995|p=33}} "high" or "little" (Tschaikov),{{sfn|Tschaikov|1995|p=43}} or "small" ([[Anthony Baines|Baines]], Rice) clarinets.{{sfn|Baines|1977|page=123–125}}{{sfn|Rice|2017|p=135}} They are known as {{lang|it|piccolo}} in Italian, {{lang|fr|petite}} in French, and {{lang|de|kleine}} in German, which are all words for ''small''.{{sfn|Rice|2017|p=135}}

The group contains clarinets built in several pitches, the largest being the sopranino clarinets in D and [[E-flat clarinet|E♭]], to the smallest in high A, B♭ and C, sometimes called {{Visible anchor|Octave clarinet|text=''octave'' clarinets}}, built an octave above the more common instruments in those keys. British [[organology|organologist]] Albert Rice in his 2017 survey counted eleven pitches of high clarinets, but noted that while the D♭ soprano and sopraninos in E and G♭ are mentioned in literature and catalogs, no known instruments in these pitches exist in museums or private collections.{{sfn|Rice|2017|p=136}}

Of the three highest and smallest "octave" clarinets, the A and B♭ clarinets found some use in 19th century [[Prussia]]n and [[Russia]]n [[military band]]s. The smallest, in C, was probably experimental, only found with simplified [[key (instrument)|key work]] due to the tight fingering required of an instrument only {{convert|28|cm}} long.{{sfn|Rice|2017|p=136–138}} Above the E♭ sopranino clarinet and below the octave clarinets, this leaves three small clarinets, in F, G, and A♭.

The F clarinet was used mainly in military bands from around 1780 until the mid-19th century; French composer [[Hector Berlioz]] noted in his 1843 landmark ''[[Treatise on Instrumentation]]'' that it had been all but replaced by the E♭ clarinet.{{sfn|Rice|2017|p=144–145}} British composer and musicologist [[Cecil Forsyth]] in his 1914 orchestration treatise associated the high clarinets with [[Austria]], saying "Clarinets in (high) F, and even in (high) A♭ are occasionally used abroad. The latter instrument is regularly employed in the Austrian military bands."{{sfn|Forsyth|1914|p=281}}

The G clarinet found some brief fame in [[Vienna|Viennese]] small ensembles, particularly the [[Schrammelmusik]] of 1880s Vienna, where it gained the nickname {{lang|de|picksüsses Hölzl}}, possibly Viennese slang for "fabulous matchstick". The music was originally performed by a quartet of two violins (the brothers Johann and Josef Schrammel), a [[contraguitar]], and the G clarinet played by Georg Dänzer. It was first recorded by players of the [[Vienna Philharmonic]], with principal clarinet Richard Schönhofer playing the high G clarinet, after the original parts were found in the 1960s.{{sfn|Tschaikov|1995|p=53}}

The A♭ clarinet first appeared in the early 19th century and was adopted mainly by European [[wind band]]s. It survived in military bands, particularly in [[Spain]] and [[Italy]] at least through the middle of the 20th century.{{sfn|Tschaikov|1995|p=53}} In Italy, particularly in band scores, the terms {{lang|it|sestino}} and occasionally {{lang|it|settimino}} referred to the A♭ clarinet, the pitch being a sixth or seventh above the C or B♭ clarinets, respectively.{{sfn|Amore|2018|p=14–15}} In some manuscripts, a clarinet with the term {{lang|it|Alafà}} indicated the piccolo in A♭.{{sfn|Amore|2018|p=15}} It has found a niche in contemporary art music and [[clarinet choir]]s, and the A♭ and G clarinets are the only sizes of clarinet higher than the E♭ sopranino still manufactured.<ref name="manufacturers"/>

== Construction ==

{{main|Clarinet#Construction}}
[[File:Clarinets A-flat B-flat E-flat.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Size comparison, ''left'' to ''right'': A♭, E♭, and B♭ clarinet]]
[[File:B-flat e-flat a-flat reeds.jpg|thumb|150px|Reeds, ''left'' to ''right'': B♭, E♭, and A♭ clarinet]]
The A♭ clarinet is just over half the length of the common B♭ clarinet, at around {{convert|14|in|order=flip}} in length.{{sfn|Baines|1977|p=125}}
Its small size requires more compact key work, and is usually constructed with a one-piece body that combines the separate upper and lower joints and the barrel found on larger clarinets.{{sfn|Rendall|Bate|1971|p=120}} The [[Bell (wind instrument)|bell]] and [[Mouthpiece (woodwind)|mouthpiece]] remain separate pieces.<ref name="mimed-16364">{{cite web |title=Piccolo clarinet. Nominal pitch: A♭ |work=Musical Instruments Museums Edinburgh |publisher=[[University of Edinburgh]] |publication-place=[[St Cecilia's Hall]] |id=accession number: 0076 |url= https://collections.ed.ac.uk/mimed/record/16364 |access-date=30 December 2023 |archive-date=29 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231229130915/https://collections.ed.ac.uk/mimed/record/16364 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Several manufacturers produce A♭ clarinets: Italian makers [[L. A. Ripamonti]], Mario Corso, and [[Orsi Instrument Company|Orsi]], and in Germany, Foag Klarinetten, [[Herbert Wurlitzer]], and [[Schwenk & Seggelke]]; German maker [[Dietz Klarinettenbau]] also produce a clarinet in G.<ref name="manufacturers"/> French-American maker [[Leblanc (musical instrument manufacturer)|Leblanc]] made A♭ clarinets until at least the 1980s.<ref name="GAC-leblanc-ab">{{cite web |title=Piccolo clarinet in Ab front – Leblanc (1983) |publisher=Le Musée des instruments à vent |publication-place=La Couture-Boussey, France |url= https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/piccolo-clarinet-in-ab-leblanc/RgE-_8_5g2_22A |access-date=30 December 2023 |via=[[Google Arts & Culture]] }}</ref><!-- [[Buffet Crampon]] used to make them. Until when? Only to order? Add once we have a WP:RS --> Ripamonti, Foag, Wurlitzer and Schwenk & Seggelke produce A♭ clarinets with both [[Oehler system|German]] and [[Boehm system (clarinet)|French system]] key work, and the German makers also make German system G clarinets.

== Repertoire ==
The A♭ clarinet initially found its widest use in 19th century European wind and military band music.{{sfn|Baines|1977|p=124}} [[Italian opera]] composers wrote for the instrument in the [[banda (opera)|stage band]] parts in their [[opera]]s, for example [[Gaetano Donizetti]]'s ''[[Alfredo il grande]]'' (1823), and [[Giuseppe Verdi]]'s ''[[Ernani]]'' (1844), ''[[La traviata]]'' (1853), and ''[[Un ballo in maschera]]'' (1859).{{sfn|Amore|2018|p=62}}{{sfn|Tschaikov|1995|p=54}}

The A♭ clarinet has appeared occasionally in [[20th-century classical music|20th-century music]]. [[Béla Bartók]] wrote for it in his 1905 ''Scherzo for Piano and Orchestra'' op. 2 ("mostly in unison with the E♭ or piccolo [flute]").<ref name="tempo-bartok">{{cite journal |last=Mason |first=Colin |date=1963 |title=Bartók's Scherzo for Piano and Orchestra |journal=Tempo |issue=65 |pages=10–13 |doi=10.1017/S0040298200055844 |s2cid=146508706 }}</ref>{{sfn|Tschaikov|1995|p=53–55}} Dutch composer [[Matthijs Vermeulen]]'s Fourth Symphony, published in 1941, includes a part for A♭ clarinet, as does the 1969 ''[[A Celtic Requiem]]'' by English choral composer [[John Tavener]].<ref name="Vermeulen-4">{{cite web |title=Symfonie nr4 – partituur netschrift |website=Matthijs Vermeulen |url=https://www.matthijsvermeulen.nl/en/documenten/manuscripten/symfonie-nr4-netschrift-partituur/ |access-date=27 August 2023 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180730021602/https://www.matthijsvermeulen.nl/en/documenten/manuscripten/symfonie-nr4-netschrift-partituur/ |archive-date=30 July 2018 }}</ref>{{sfn|Tschaikov|1995|p=55}} German [[avant-garde music|avant-garde]] composer [[Hans-Joachim Hespos]] uses the A♭ clarinet in his 1972 large orchestral work, ''Interactions''.<ref name="Hespos-orchestral">{{cite web |title=Complete work (engl.) – Orchestral works |date=20 July 2004 |url=http://www.hespos.info/index.php?navi=content&id_area=1&level=2&npoint=113,189,0,0,0,0 |publisher=Hans-Joachim Hespos |access-date=7 February 2007 |archive-date=28 June 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070628202152/http://www.hespos.info/index.php?navi=content&id_area=1&level=2&npoint=113,189,0,0,0,0 |url-status=live }}</ref> Several of his [[chamber music|chamber works]] also employ the A♭ clarinet; his 1978 work ''go'' also includes [[soprano sarrusophone]], [[heckelphone]], and [[tárogató]].<ref name="Hespos-chamber">{{cite web |title=Complete work (engl.) – Ensemble works |date=20 July 2004 |publisher=Hans-Joachim Hespos |url=http://www.hespos.info/index.php?navi=content&id_area=1&level=2&npoint=113,187,0,0,0,0 |access-date=7 February 2007 |archive-date=28 June 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070628202122/http://www.hespos.info/index.php?navi=content&id_area=1&level=2&npoint=113,187,0,0,0,0 |url-status=live }}</ref> Canadian composer [[Samuel Andreyev]] includes A♭ "piccolo clarinet" in his chamber works ''Vérifications'' (2012) and ''Iridescent Notation'' (2017).<ref name="andreyev-2012">{{cite web |title=Vérifications for six instruments |work=Samuel Andreyev |date=2012 |url= https://www.samuelandreyev.com/verifications |access-date=28 August 2023 |archive-date=28 August 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230828011556/http://www.samuelandreyev.com/verifications |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Amore|2018|p=62}}

The A♭ clarinet is sometimes used in [[clarinet choir]] arrangements, including several by French-American composer [[Lucien Cailliet]], though the instrument is often optional or cued in other voices.<ref name="Grove-Cailliet">{{cite Grove |first=Raoul F. |last=Camus |title=Cailliet, Lucien |date=2001 |id=47052 |url= https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.47052 |url-access=subscription |access-date=30 December 2023 }}</ref><ref name="instr-1967">{{cite journal |last=Morgan |first=John |title=The History of the Clarinet Choir |journal=The Instrumentalist |volume=21 |date=February 1967 |pages=42–43}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
{{ubli
| {{Cite Q|last=Amore      |date=2018 |first=Adriano |Q128213679}}
| {{cite Q|last=Baines     |date=1977 |first=Anthony |author-link=Anthony Baines |Q115155619}}
| {{cite Q|last=Forsyth    |date=1914 |first=Cecil |author-link=Cecil Forsyth |Q121879329}}
| {{cite Q|last=Lawson     |date=1995 |first=Colin |editor-last=Lawson |author-link=Colin Lawson |editor-first=Colin |editor-link=Colin Lawson |chapter=3. The clarinet family. Introduction: clarinets in B♭ and A |page=33–37 |publication-place=unset |Q116448371}}
| {{cite Q|last1=Rendall |last2=Bate |date=1971 |first1=F. Geoffrey |first2=Philip |Q115259125}}
| {{cite Q|last=Rice       |date=March 2017 |first=Albert R. |Q123583006}}
| {{cite Grove|last=Shackleton |date=2001 |first=Nicholas |author-link=Nicholas Shackleton |title=Clarinet: II. The clarinet of Western art music |id=52768 |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.52768 |access-date=27 January 2023 |url-access=subscription }}
| {{cite Q|last=Tschaikov  |date=1995 |first=Basil |editor-last=Lawson |editor-first=Colin |editor-link=Colin Lawson |chapter=The high clarinets |page=43–56 |publication-place=unset |Q116448371 }}
}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* {{Commons-inline}}
* [[Internet Archive]]: [https://archive.org/details/lp_schrammeln-die-originalmusik-der-bruder_das-klassische-wiener-schrammelquartett "Schrammeln: Die Originalmusik Der Brüder Schrammel"], 1966 recording featuring G clarinet ([https://www.discogs.com/release/12553931 Discogs])
* [https://www.youtube.com/shorts/m4sut0di2JE Sound example] ([[Richard Haynes (musician)|Richard Haynes]])
{{Clarinet}}

[[Category:Clarinets]]
[[Category:A-flat instruments]]