 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Klarnt
Date: 2023-03-22 12:38
How did we decide that the Eb Alto Clarinet is called the "Alto"?
What's the relationship between the history behind the naming convention of the Clarinet family and the standardized naming of the Eb Alto Clarinet?
Post Edited (2023-03-22 12:40)
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Author: Hugues Fardao
Date: 2023-03-23 14:05
I'm interested too as an Alto player by any answer or explaination... I red once the Alto clarinet could be called a Tenor clarinet due to its range.
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Author: Chris_C ★2017
Date: 2023-03-23 18:49
From extensive research (i.e. a quick Google) it seems that in some countries it is called a tenor clarinet and in others (including US and UK) an alto clarinet. I have seen band parts for "Tenor clarinet in Eb". I suppose there is potentially less confusion over transpositions if it is called an alto clarinet because then all the transpositions are the same as for alto sax and it can play alto sax parts (even if they are unsatisfying).
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Author: kilo
Date: 2023-03-23 21:37
Unlike the saxophones, there are many more harmony instruments in the clarinet family.
The most common saxes are the Bb soprano, Eb alto, Bb tenor, Eb baritone, and more uncommon, the C "melody" (between alto and tenor), the Eb sopranino, and Bb bass.
So, following this system we'd have an Eb sopranino clarinet, Bb soprano, Eb alto, Bb tenor (what we call "bass"), Eb baritone (known as "contra-alto"), and Bb bass (known as "Bb or BBb contra-bass")
There would also be sopranos in A and C. And a basset clarinet in A. And a basset horn in F. And, rarely, various other soprano clarinets in different pitches. Given that practically the entire library of extended clarinet music is scored for a Bb "bass" clarinet – which is only one octave lower than the soprano – and that the lower instruments are called "contra-alto and "contra-bass" any attempt to rationalize nomenclature would just be confusing.
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Author: Klarnt
Date: 2023-03-24 05:37
Isn't it odd to change one of our Clarinet member's name to match the Saxophones, an instrument with rather different range? Even if one is to compare the Clarinet to the Saxophone, then the 'Eb Alto Clarinet' should really be called the 'Eb Tenor Clarinet' because it can play a whole note lower than the Bb Tenor Saxophone (concert Gb vs Ab). With that said, I unfortunately don't play the Alto Clarinet (yet) so I don't actually know how often the music is written down in the Chalumeau register.
I too read that in some countries they still call it the Tenor Clarinet, while in the Anglosphere we call it an Alto Clarinet. I'm mostly curious about what we English speakers originally called it. If the English name was always Alto Clarinet, then that's that. But if the English name was Tenor Clarinet, or even an inconsistent mixed usage of Tenor & Alto, then I'm curious as to when and why 'Alto Clarinet' prevailed as the standard name in the English language?
Transposition wise it's hard to see how a name would make any difference. Regardless if it's called an Alto Clarinet or Tenor Clarinet it's still in the key of Eb, so players can still read the Eb Alto Saxophone parts just as easily.
Although this may resonate with "any attempt to rationalize nomenclature would just be confusing".
Post Edited (2023-03-24 05:39)
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Author: kilo
Date: 2023-03-24 16:47
Quote:
Isn't it odd to change one of our Clarinet member's name to match the Saxophones, an instrument with rather different range?
And an instrument born on the wrong side of the blanket as well – it wouldn't just be "odd"; it would verge on sacrilege!
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Author: Ursa
Date: 2023-03-24 21:15
The flute family uses the same alto, bass, contra-alto, and contrabass progression of sizes as the clarinet. Makes sense to me; both flutes and clarinets have been around for far longer than the saxophone.
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