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Bass clarinet (English name).
Labels the bass clarinet in English-language scores, abbreviated B. Cl. or Bass Cl., usually in B♭. Most modern parts are in treble clef, sounding a major ninth below written; some older scores use bass clef, sounding a whole step below written. Check the clef and any note in the score before reading.
Abbreviations: B. Cl., Bass Cl.
An octave below the B-flat clarinet, with a dark, velvety low register — down to sounding D-flat2, or B-flat1 with the low-C extension — and a hollow middle. It is a supple bass for woodwind chords, a shadowy solo voice, and a soft doubling for cellos or basses; in wind bands it is a core bass instrument. A clarinetist often doubles it; give time to change and use its top register for color only.
Bass Clarinet is one of 1755 terms in the Gradus musical dictionary: the words, abbreviations and instrument names that appear in printed scores, plus the vocabulary composers use to talk about them.
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