Editing Clarinet (section)

==Performance practice==

The modern orchestra frequently includes two clarinetists, each usually equipped with a B{{music|flat}} and an A clarinet, and clarinet parts commonly alternate between the instruments.{{sfn|Lawson|1995b}} The standard of using soprano clarinets in B{{music|flat}} and A has to do partly with the history of the instrument and partly with acoustics and aesthetics.{{sfn|Lawson|1995b}} Before about 1800, due to the lack of airtight pads, practical woodwinds could have only a few keys.{{sfn|Shackleton|1995}} The low (chalumeau) register of the clarinet spans a twelfth (an octave plus a perfect fifth) before overblowing, so the clarinet needs keys/holes to produce all nineteen notes in this range. This involves more keywork than on instruments that "overblow" at the octave—[[oboe]]s, flutes, [[bassoon]]s, and saxophones need only twelve notes before overblowing. Since clarinets with few keys cannot play chromatically, they are limited to playing in closely related keys.<ref name="longyear">{{cite journal |last1=Longyear |first1=RM |year=1983 |title=Clarinet sonorities in early Romantic music |jstor=962035 |url=http://jeremywoodwindsresourcefile.weebly.com/uploads/2/3/8/2/23826031/clarinet_sonorities_in_early_romantic_music.pdf |journal=The Musical Times |volume=124 |issue=1682 |pages=224–226 |doi=10.2307/962035  }}</ref> With the advent of airtight pads and improved key technology, more keys were added to woodwinds and the need for clarinets in multiple keys was reduced.{{sfn|Shackleton|1995}} The use of instruments in C, B{{music|flat}}, and A persisted, with each used as specified by the composer.{{sfn|Lawson|1995c}}

The lower-pitched clarinets sound "mellower" (less bright), and the C clarinet—the highest and brightest sounding of these three—fell out of favor as the other two could cover its range and their sound was considered better.<ref name="longyear"/> While the clarinet in C began to fall out of general use around 1850, some composers continued to write C parts. Others employed many different clarinets, including the E{{music|flat}} or D soprano clarinets, [[Basset-horn|basset horn]], [[bass clarinet]], and [[contrabass clarinet]]. The practice of using different clarinets to achieve tonal variety was common in [[20th-century classical music]].{{sfn|Tschaikov|1995}}{{sfn|Harris|1995a}}{{sfn|Lawson|1995b}} While technical improvements and an equal-tempered scale reduced the need for two clarinets, the technical difficulty of playing in remote keys persisted, and the A has remained a standard orchestral instrument.{{sfn|Shackleton|1995}}

Common combinations involving clarinet in [[chamber music]] are:
* Clarinet and piano.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Burnet C. |last=Tuthill |title=Sonatas for clarinet and piano: annotated listings |journal=Journal of Research in Music Education |volume=20 |issue=3 |year=1972 |pages=308–328 |jstor=3343885 |doi=10.2307/3343885}}</ref>
* [[Clarinet trio]]: clarinet, piano, and another instrument (for example, a [[string instrument]]).{{sfn|Rees-Davies|1995}}
* [[Clarinet choir|Clarinet quartet]]: three B{{music|flat}} clarinets and [[bass clarinet]]; two B{{music|flat}} clarinets, [[alto clarinet]], and bass; two B{{music|flat}}, an E{{music|flat}} alto clarinet, and a B{{music|flat}} bass clarinet; sometimes four B{{music|flat}} sopranos; and other possibilities such as the use of a [[basset horn]], especially in European classical works.<ref name=choir>{{cite journal |doi=10.2307/3343790 |last=Weerts |first=Richard K. |date=Autumn 1964 |title=The clarinet choir |journal=Journal of Research in Music Education |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=227–230 |jstor=3343790  }}</ref>{{sfn|Dobrée|1995}}<ref>{{cite journal |last=Seay |first=Albert E. |date=September–October 1948 |title=Modern composers and the wind ensemble |journal=Music Educators Journal |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=27–28 |doi=10.2307/3386973 |jstor=3386973 |doi-access=}}</ref>
* [[Clarinet quintet]]: a clarinet plus a [[string quartet]] or, in more contemporary music, a configuration of five clarinets.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1093/jrma/42.1.89 |last=Street |first=Oscar W. |title=The clarinet and its music |journal=Journal of the Royal Musical Association |year=1915 |volume=42 |issue=1 |pages=89–115 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1431795 }}</ref>{{Sfn|Ellsworth|2015|p=28}}
* [[Wind quintet]]: flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and [[French horn|horn]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |year=2013 |title=Wind quintet |encyclopedia=The Oxford Dictionary of Music |editor-last1=Kennedy |editor-first1=Joyce |edition=6th |isbn=978-0-1917-4451-8 |editor-last2=Kennedy |editor-first2=Michael |editor-last3=Rutherford-Johnson |editor-first3=Tim}}</ref>

The A{{music|flat}} clarinet, B{{music|flat}} clarinet, alto clarinet, bass clarinet, and contra-alto/contrabass clarinet are commonly used in [[concert band]]s, which generally have multiple B{{music|flat}} clarinets; there are commonly three or even four B{{music|flat}} clarinet parts with two to three players per part.{{sfn|Miller|2015|p=385}} The clarinet is also used in [[military band]]s; author Eric Hoeprich suggests that "it was the role of the clarinet in the military band... that ultimately provided the key to its future popularity", since it was particularly suited to the ensemble.{{sfn|Hoeprich|2008|p=298}}

[[Clarinet choir]] contains many clarinets playing together, usually including several members of the clarinet family. This ensemble first emerged in 1927. The homogeneity of tone across the different members of the clarinet family produces an effect with some similarities to a human [[choir]]. Parts for non-clarinets, such as voice or French horn, are sometimes included in the repertoire.<ref name="choir2">{{cite journal |last=Weerts |first=Richard K. |date=Autumn 1964 |title=The clarinet choir |journal=Journal of Research in Music Education |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=227–230 |doi=10.2307/3343790 |jstor=3343790}}</ref>