Small Clarinets: History, Instruments, and Music

Small clarinets are sparsely represented in the literature and what is available is often incomplete and inaccurate. These instruments are well-known in wind bands but their wider use and complex history are usually not explained. The purpose of this article is to define the group called small clarinets; report new information from tutors, treatises, photos, and archival documents; identify music utilizing small clarinets; and provide a list of extant small clarinets in the Appendix. Small clarinets are built in a higher pitch than the soprano C clarinet. They include instruments made (from lowest to highest pitches) in D, E, E, F, G, A, small A, small B, and small C. Nineteenth-century examples of these clarinets are described in a table with their maker, city of manufacture, number of keys, date, location, and length in millimeters. Each small clarinet type is discussed beginning with its earliest documentation, makers, musical use, and examples of music in which they are required. Characteristics of construction are described for each of the 12 illustrated clarinets including decoration. An Appendix of 665 small clarinets lists makers from Austria, Belgium, England, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States.