Clarinetto

As Printed on a Score

Clarinetto (plural Clarinetti) labels the clarinet staff, abbreviated Cl. or Clar., almost always with its key: Clarinetto in B♭, Clarinetti in A, in C. German-trained engravers print in B for B-flat. Read the key before the notes: in B-flat the written pitch sounds a whole step lower, in A a minor third lower, in C as written. A “muta in A” in the part signals a change of instrument.

Abbreviations: Cl., Clar., Clar, Cl

Also spelled: Clarinetti

How Composers Use It

Three registers with different characters: the dark, hollow chalumeau below the G above middle C (written), the weaker throat notes from there to B-flat, and the clear clarion and brilliant altissimo above. It can play from a whisper to a full forte, the widest dynamic range of the woodwinds. Composers choose the B-flat or A clarinet to keep the written key simple — A for sharp keys, B-flat for flat ones — so write in the key players expect and allow time for instrument changes.

Example

Mozart, Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550, first movement: “Clarinetti in B.” — B-flat clarinets, the pair Mozart added when he revised the symphony.