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Asoprano clarinet is aclarinet that is higher in register than thebasset horn oralto clarinet. The unmodified wordclarinet usually refers to the B♭ clarinet, which is by far the most common type. The termsoprano also applies to the clarinets in A and C, and even the low G clarinet—rare in Western music but popular in the folk music ofTurkey—which sounds a whole tone lower than the A. Some writers reserve a separate category ofsopranino clarinets for theE♭ and D clarinets,[1] while some regarded them as soprano clarinets. All have a written range from the E belowmiddle C to about the C three octaves above middle C, with the sounding pitches determined by the particular instrument'stransposition.
Orchestral composers largely write for soprano clarinets in B♭ and A. Clarinets in C were used likewise from the Classical era until about 1910.Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart also called for clarinets in B♮ when writing in keys with many sharps (e.g. the E major arias inIdomeneo andCosì fan tutte), but this became obsolete far sooner. There have also been soprano clarinets in C, A, and B♭ with curved barrels and bells marketed under the namesSaxonette, Claribel, and Clariphon.
Shackleton lists also obsolete "sopranino" clarinets in (high) G, F, and E, and soprano clarinets in B♮ and A♭.
